They aren't trying to replace Google, they are an alternative for privacy-minded individuals who use/rely on searching a lot and want a better experience than Google provides.

Google will have its lock in but there's a market share of people like me (and many others here on HN) which have been let down by the constant enshittification of Google's search and will pay for an alternative providing the experience we were used with Google some 10-15 years ago.

Kagi is being smart, they don't need to become a multi-billion company, it's a small team (last I've seen it was about 15 people), providing a good enough product to have paying customers. I've been using it since Nov/2022 and been pretty happy to pay the US$ 10/month for a better and more private search product.

> OK I had never heard Kagi before this and I didn't realize it was that kind of post so I was confused. If it's a Google alternative, wouldn't it be difficult because I imagine Google has so much lock in by now?

You are absoluetly right. This is what this paragraph from the announcement addresses.

“Looking ahead, we are cognizant that when building Kagi, we are running a marathon and not a sprint. Altering entrenched habits in the society, such as the reliance on personal data and even pieces of what makes us human as currency for essential online activities like search and browsing, is a gradual process that will take time.”