Google Maps, Waze get AI upgrade to take on Apple

Users will be able to ask natural-language questions about places on the map

Alphabet Inc.'s Google announced new features for its two mapping apps, part of the search giant's ongoing effort to revamp products with its Gemini artificial intelligence models.

Users of Google Maps will be able to ask natural-language questions about places on the map and see AI-generated summaries of human-written reviews, the company said in an announcement Thursday. Waze users will be able to verbally report traffic issues on the go, without having to type or use specific commands.

Google also said it would allow developers building products with AI models to verify responses using the company's vast database of places. Executives said this would help combat hallucinations, when language models deliver inaccurate information in convincing fashion.

Google has long dominated consumer mapping, and Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said this week that Google Maps now has more than 2 billion monthly users. But Google can't afford to stand still. Companies across Silicon Valley are racing to build digital assistants that can guide users as they go about their daily lives, and mapping is shaping up to be a key ingredient, said Bob O'Donnell, an analyst with TECHnalysis Research.

"What is going to be interesting to watch is how mapping ends up getting subsumed, as it were, as a service into generative AI agents," O'Donnell said. "More often than not, mapping requests are part of a larger picture "- take me to the place I'm going for dinner."

Other companies are trying to push the frontiers of mapping and place data. Gaming firm Niantic Inc., maker of the hit mobile game Pokemon Go, in August released an app that lets users create immersive 3D models of real-world objects and share those images with others on a collective map.

"You need to know precisely where you are standing if you are going to augment the world around you. The challenge is the maps that Google built don't answer that question," said Brian McClendon, a senior vice president at Niantic, who led mapping at Google. "We have started to build that map."

In September, AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li launched a startup, World Labs, which aims to build software that can use images and other data to make decisions about the three-dimensional world. Spatial data promises to "change the course of AI," Li told Bloomberg.

Google also faces heightened competition from big tech rivals, including Apple Inc. Apple Maps, which suffered a rocky launch in 2012, has come a long way and is now on par with Google in some key markets.

Apple Maps has focused on improving its directions interface in recent years. In 2021, the service began showing detailed three-dimensional models and multiple roadway lanes in some cities, while Google only introduced a similar lane feature Thursday. On the other hand, Apple Maps has taken a restrained approach to displaying crowd-sourced information; it doesn't even allow users to review places they've visited.

Google's scale remains difficult to match. In a blog post detailing the announcements, Google Vice President Miriam Daniel wrote that the company makes over 100 million updates to its maps daily.

"AI has helped us build new experiences for over a decade," Daniel wrote. "And now, we're transforming Maps with the power of Gemini models, helping you get answers to complex questions about the world."

In other new features, Google said it would make it easier for users to find parking along their routes and get walking directions to their final destinations.