What you need to know

• In an internal memo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai previewed what employees should expect for 2025.

• After viewing demos, Pichai was impressed by the "amazing" progress Google is making with new AI features.

• A few things Google could release in 2025 are full-fledged Gemini 2.0 models and Project Astra.

Last year, Google began 2024 with mass layoffs, and its CEO Sundar Pichai had to send internal memos to employees explaining the company's plan. At the start of 2025, it looks like Google is in a very different place, as an internal memo from Pichai viewed by 9to5Google revealed. In the email sent to employees, the Google CEO cited the "amazing" progress of future AI features currently in development.

"We ended 2024 on a super high note with Gemini 2.0, Willow, Veo 2, and lots of innovation across Search, YouTube, Cloud, Android, Pixel, and more," Pichai wrote. "The foundation to all of this is our technical and AI leadership, made possible by our full stack approach, and people were inspired by what we built."

By the full-stack approach, the Google chief executive is most likely referencing the company's development of AI features, the Gemini models that enable them, and the Tensor smartphone processors that run them. Google is able to make efficient, tailor-made AI features by controlling the software, SoC, and AI models from top to bottom.

"As we start the year, I have been reviewing demos for the products and features we’re rolling out in the next few months," Pichai continued. "The progress is amazing, and I’m confident we will keep the momentum going in 2025."

Google already has a few work-in-progress features for 2025 that we know about, like Project Astra. That's the multimodal AI interface that we tried at Google I/O 2024 and opened up for waitlisted signups in December. There's also the crop of Gemini 2.0 models, which are listed as "experimental" now but should fully release this year. Other projects, like Project Mariner, could make an appearance.

There are surely projects that we don't know about, too. If Pichai's remarks are any indication, 2025 could be a good year for AI for Google.