A Google search executive on Thursday pushed back against fears that its AI-powered search will harm web publishers and its advertising business, calling the technology an “expansionary moment” for the internet.

Speaking at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York, Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, addressed concerns that the company’s efforts to provide more AI-powered features — which deliver direct answers to queries — would reduce traffic to external websites.

“Google sends billions and billions and billions of clicks out every single day, and the outbound clicks are largely stable. So that’s actually not changing,” Stein said, adding that new ways people are searching, such as using their phone cameras or asking long, complex questions, are creating new opport

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