California, May 22 -- Marking a decade as Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai reaffirmed his faith in the power of fundamental research to drive the company's future in artificial intelligence, even as it faces rising competition and regulatory scrutiny.

He emphasised that Google's strategy remains "pro-competitive," citing its open contributions to global AI development and partnerships with over 2,000 companies as evidence of its ecosystem-first mindset.

"While some ideas can convert into products right away, some take time. For instance, we spoke yesterday about text diffusion-this is one area where we're pushing the frontiers of diffusion technology in AI in a new way," Pichai told Mint on Wednesday.

"Down the line, it'll make sense to bri...