Robby Stein

VP, Product @Google Search. Building what’s next in AI-powered search and discovery. Fueled by curiosity and coffee.

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

@demishassabis @WSJ congrats demis! 👏

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Great convo with @sundarpichai & @Kantrowitz

[Alex Kantrowitz @Kantrowitz]

New: I spoke with @sundarpichai about Google's commitment to the AI frontier, how close we are to RSI, balancing DeepMind's compute needs vs. Google Cloud profits, and much, much more.

Full Big Technology Podcast episode here -->

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction
1:14 Google’s Frontier AI Strategy
3:47 Do Frontier Models Really Matter?
6:35 The Future of AI Agents
7:39 Recursive Self-Improvement
12:58 World Models and the Path to AGI
14:56 Google’s Compute Dilemma and AI Infrastructure
19:36 Is AI Overbuilt?
23:35 The Future of the AI Interface
31:42 Google’s Answer to Muse and Dots
35:03 Apple, Space Data Centers, and AI Coding
41:42 Optimism and AI’s Future

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Our latest data is in, and here’s exactly when you’ll get the best deals this holiday shopping season:

> Black Friday for travel accessories (but late Dec for deeper discounts on luggage)
> First two weeks after Black Friday for lowest prices on fragrances
> Mid-Dec for peak deals on handbags
> Late Dec for steepest markdowns on tech toys

Check out our first ever When to Buy Guide (which looked at Search trends, promo patterns & discount data from 2025) here: https://t.co/Arq0fbRxhh

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Awesome to see how Preferred Sources in Search has resonated with people: usage has grown more than 7x since the start of the year.

We want to make it easy for you to find the outlets you really value & explore the web. Sharing updates to do just that:

- We’re increasing inline links & making them more prominent in AI Overviews & AI Mode
- Article carousels for timely topics are coming to more countries
- We’re also testing direct links to creator & publisher Search profiles in video results

https://t.co/TOkh3ihTdn

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Fun day at TC Disrupt talking about what it takes to build products at scale. Thanks for having me, @TechCrunch @kirstenkorosec!

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

@RudyXFantasy It's available now for all Google AI Pro & Ultra subs - try refreshing / clearing cache to see the updated model options

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Gemini 4 Argon is now rolling out globally in Search!

Built to solve your hardest problems, Argon brings big improvements to tackling nuanced, multi-step tasks in AI Mode. It’s better at understanding your intent and following your instructions in back and forth conversations.

Available starting today for Google AI Pro & Ultra subs, tap the ➕ icon to switch over to Argon and test it out.

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

@venturetwins wow

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Why do we want what we want? It's a question I’ve been thinking about a lot since reading about René Girard’s work on mimetic desire.

Did I choose this goal for myself, or did my environment choose it for me?

When you work around high achieving people, aspirations spread through osmosis. It’s dangerously easy to absorb your peer group's definition of success and mistake it for your own.

Real self-awareness is having the discipline to audit your goals. What do you really want for yourself from first principles? Make sure you aren't sprinting down someone else's track.

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Building for billions isn't that different from building for a hundred.

The real challenge of scale? Keeping the same focus and dedication to craft.

Looking forward to chatting with @kirstenkorosec next week on the @TechCrunch Disrupt Builders Stage about how PMs should rethink product decisions in today’s environment.

[TechCrunch @TechCrunch]

From first users to billions: Google’s Robby Stein joins TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Lean in on this Builders Stage session. Save up to $200 before Sept 25.
https://t.co/jZicg6REtX

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Pretty awesome that today’s Google Doodle celebrates World Space Week with a never-before-seen image of the Rosebud Nebula straight from the James Webb Space Telescope (in collab with @NASA)

Definitely worth taking a look 🌌

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Nano Banana 2.1 is rolling out in AI Mode in Search!

Open the Google app & tap the 🍌 icon under the Search box to get started creating.

[Google @Google]

Meet Nano Banana 2.1, our latest image generation and editing model 🍌

This upgraded version outperforms our previous models across the board, with notable leaps in visual design, mask-based editing, and subject consistency to help you create more natural-looking images.

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

One of our most requested updates for Search profiles is live today: expanding to new countries!

Starting today, creators and publishers in India 🇮🇳 and Canada 🇨🇦 can set up their own dedicated home base on Google – followed by Brazil 🇧🇷 rolling out soon.

Excited to get this into more hands!

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

We rolled out Search profiles. It’s a brand new, dedicated home for creators and publishers to shape their presence and connect with their audiences on Search.

With Search profiles, you can:
> Showcase your latest articles, videos, and social posts in one central hub
> Allow people to easily follow you, so your content is more likely to appear on Discover
> Customize your presence with an avatar, bio, and links to your platforms

Available first for creators with a notable following. https://t.co/fLqx4BMJ4k

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

@MatthewBerman Just got one for my kids and they love it!

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Looking at 5 years of Google Flights data: book your holiday travel ASAP! ✈️

Fares for Thanksgiving are lowest 21-57 days out – making Oct the prime booking window.

Other tips:
> Sweet spot for Christmas travel is late Oct–mid Nov.
> Spring break prices are lowest 50 days before departure.
> Summer vacation best prices hit 21 days before departure

https://t.co/Su5uOuiT6a

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

@ben_kauf Couldn't have been happier to have you on the team and can't wait for what's next for you.

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Nothing in my career went according to plan. Looking back, that was the best thing that could have happened.

In college, I was convinced that I was going to be a lawyer. But my passion for building led to my first big pivot: packing up my life and moving across the country to join Google.

Early Google taught me what big swings look like – a culture of unbridled ambition where anything felt possible. But the itch to build from zero to one took over, and after several years, I left to start my own company.

Running a startup was a masterclass in ambiguity. When you build from scratch, you quickly realize the 5-year career blueprint is an illusion – the plan changes every day based on what users actually need.

That mindset carried over to Instagram, where the focus shifted from building from zero, to hyper-growth and scaling experiences globally.

Returning to Google brought everything full circle. It reaffirmed for me that who you build with matters just as much as what you build.

If you’re navigating your own path, don’t feel pressured to follow a rigid plan. Follow your curiosity, tackle hard problems, and let the journey unfold opportunistically.

Letting go of the plan was the best career move I ever made.

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

One of the things I love most about Google is the drive to make big bets - huge congrats to the Suncatcher team!

[Sundar Pichai @sundarpichai]

I remember the first meeting where the team pitched the idea of putting compute in space - exciting idea!

Today's successful launch with our partner @planet prototype satellite shows how far we've come...and how far there is to go. Thanks for the lift, @SpaceX, another spectacular booster landing too🚀

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

@rajanpatel Learn more ways Search can help you step up your own coffee game here: https://t.co/vDIbxTOktM

[Robby Stein @rmstein]

Search interest in latte art reached an all-time high globally this year!

So this International Coffee Day, @rajanpatel and I tried to level up our barista skills using Search Live ☕️

We had it talk us through the pour step-by-step, then showed what we made for some real-time (and very honest) critique.

Turns out making a tulip latte is harder than it looks 😅 Try it for yourself and ask Search anything.