Google unveiled a revamped search engine on Tuesday, ushering in a new era where artificial intelligence (AI) will play a pivotal role in generating responses over traditional website links. This shift, announced at Google's annual developers conference in Mountain View, promises to streamline information retrieval while potentially disrupting the flow of internet traffic revenue.

The updated search engine will introduce conversational summaries generated by Google's AI technology at the top of search results pages. These AI overviews will appear when deemed most efficient by Google's algorithms, particularly for complex subjects or brainstorming scenarios. However, traditional website links and ads will still feature prominently for simpler searches like store recommendations or weather forecasts.

Google had been testing AI overviews with a select group of users over the past year and is now integrating them into search results for a broader audience in the U.S. By year-end, the company anticipates reaching approximately 1 billion users worldwide with this feature.

In addition to enhancing its search engine with more AI capabilities, Google showcased advancements in other AI-powered technologies at the conference. This included Gemini, a technology for more sophisticated analysis, and smarter assistants like "Astra," capable of understanding and remembering information shown through a smartphone's camera.

The emphasis on AI represents a significant shift for Google and the internet ecosystem at large. While it opens doors for innovation, it also poses challenges, particularly for digital advertising revenue. Website publishers may see decreased traffic if users rely more on AI summaries than clicking on website links, potentially leading to billions of dollars in lost ad revenue.

Despite these concerns, Google maintains that AI overviews encourage more searches and deeper exploration of topics, benefiting both users and website publishers. However, the increasing use of AI to summarize information has raised legal questions regarding copyright infringement, particularly in high-profile cases like The New York Times' lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.

Nonetheless, Google sees AI as integral to its future and a necessary risk as technology continues to evolve. As competitors adopt similar AI-driven approaches, the landscape of internet search and information retrieval undergoes profound transformation.