Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and longtime investor in Tesla Inc., has voiced his apprehensions about the sustainability of Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google's business model.

What Happened: On Wednesday, Gerber took to X, formerly Twitter, and underscored the mounting threat to Google from AI search competitors like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity AI.

"Google has a real issue with AI related searches eating into their business. Perplexity AI is pretty impressive, along with ChatGPT. I barely use traditional search anymore," he posted.

These observations come at a time when Google is embroiled in an antitrust battle with the Department of Justice.

In another post on X, Gerber noted the timing, highlighting the irony of the DOJ targeting Google for its business practices just as the company faces a significant "existential threat" from AI-driven competition.

He said, "Google better get busy."

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Why It Matters: The ongoing legal battle between Google and the DOJ has reached a critical juncture following a federal judge's ruling that found the tech giant to be an illegal monopolist in the online search market.

The DOJ is pushing for both behavioral and structural solutions to curb Google's monopolistic practices.

This might involve splitting off key parts of Google's business, like its Chrome browser or Android operating system, which play a crucial role in maintaining its search dominance.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives previously said, "We continue to view structural changes as an unlikely outcome for Google as a result of this case and expect any material business model impact will relate to search distribution."

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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