Pichai Says Google Is ‘A Bit Behind’ On Agentic Coding

Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the corporate is “a bit behind” the frontier on agentic coding.

Pichai known as coding “very foundational” to Google’s AI work. He made the feedback on the New York Times Hard Fork podcast. The interview got here days after Google’s I/O developer convention.

The place Google Sees The Hole

When requested about Google’s place within the AI race, Pichai highlighted areas of energy and people the place Google trails.

Google’s fashions are “very succesful” on textual content, multimodality, voice, audio, and reasoning, he stated. However in agentic coding, instrument use, instruction following, and long-horizon duties, Google is “a bit behind at this second.”

On what that appears like for builders, Pichai drew a clearer line. Google has been robust at creating single-shot net entrance ends. The hole is in longer-running duties, the place builders work on complicated codebases.

Pichai stated:

“There’s a hole to the frontier the place others are, however we’re working, you already know, we’re nicely conscious of it.”

Why Pichai Says Google Lacked Coding Knowledge

Pichai pointed to a developer product hole. Google didn’t have the identical exterior coding product floor producing developer information flows, he stated.

He cited Anthropic’s relationship with Cursor for example. Google “possibly fairly didn’t have the floor” that rivals had, he added.

That’s now altering. At I/O, Google introduced Antigravity 2.0 as a standalone desktop utility for agent-based coding workflows. Inside utilization at Google has been rising quick, in response to Pichai.

He added:

“We’re doubling each week and individuals are actually placing the fashions to work. That’s serving to us hill climb fairly a bit.”

On the I/O keynote, Pichai had shared inside token utilization numbers. He known as the expansion in contrast to something he’d seen inside the corporate.

What Pichai Mentioned About Gemini 3.5 Flash

The interview got here a day after Google launched Gemini 3.5 Flash and made it the default mannequin for AI Mode globally. Pichai acknowledged early complaints about pricing, mannequin high quality, and utilization limits.

Google had tightened utilization limits at launch to keep away from outages, he defined, calling the restrictions “rightfully a supply of frustration.” The corporate would make progress on limits “very quickly.”

On mannequin high quality, he acknowledged that the brand new mannequin might have regressions in some areas. Some points are “simple to handle” by means of post-training, and Google would repair them rapidly, he added.

SEJ covered the Gemini 3.5 Flash launch and other I/O announcements earlier this week.

Why This Issues

Pichai’s feedback go additional than Google’s I/O keynote messaging on the place the corporate trails. On the occasion, the deal with Gemini 3.5 Flash and Antigravity was extra assured. This interview supplied a extra candid learn on the aggressive image.

Pichai described the hole as a suggestions loop drawback. Coding merchandise that builders use day by day generates interplay information that improves the following mannequin. By his personal account, Google is now constructing that loop by means of Antigravity after missing the same developer-facing floor.

Wanting Forward

Pichai stated Google is making progress on coding and known as the house “very dynamic.” Google says Gemini 3.5 Professional is getting used internally and is predicted to roll out subsequent month. It hasn’t stated whether or not the mannequin will slim the coding hole Pichai described.

Featured Picture: YouTube / Exhausting Fork podcast