Huh, I thought that AI overview feature is powered by Gemini.

Gemini doesn't refer to a specific model so perhaps the one on the search page is weaker than the ones it offers in the app.

They may have estimated the volume of replies in those "overview" pages and shrunk the costs routing through a computationally lightweight model.

They may this way also have underestimated the reputational loss - the big umbrella of the "Ford Pinto case".

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Edit: I was just now looking at the new Visual Capitalist's "Ranked: 2025’s 10 Largest S&P 500 Stocks". Is it possible that Alphabet being at the top with 7.6% of the weight of the 500-items set is paradoxically allowing to afford more damage?

Capability != Reliability