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“AI is coming for our jobs!” Or is it that we are coming for AI, and AI is coming into our jobs? Google Hong Kong has released the results of its annual Year in Search report, and the city’s trending keyword searches of 2025 included no fewer than four instances of AI in the top 10 alone, indicating pronounced interest in exploring AI technologies.
The robots are here: Hong Kong’s AI obsession
Generative AI chatbot DeepSeek ranked first, followed by AI assistant Grok at sixth, ByteDance’s multimodal AI Doubao at seventh, and Google Gemini at eighth, giving us a glimpse at the kind of AI tools that Hongkongers could be looking at incorporating into their personal and professional lives – or are already using as part of their day-to-day. Google populates its data-driven Year in Search report with the highest search-volume increases of the year, meaning that these topics had significant search surges in 2025.
The stories that moved and shook us
Other than AI, local news and celebrity passings also featured prominently in the top trending searches for keywords. November’s heartbreaking tragedy, the five-alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court, ranked second, while Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu and Hong Kong singer-songwriter Khalil Fong were close behind, prompted by their untimely deaths at 48 and 41, respectively.
As expected, Wang Fuk Court also topped the list for top trending searches for local news, followed by queries about severe weather and public health concerns. “Black Rainstorm Signal” was the second-most searched term for local news, and Hongkongers also asked about Severe Tropical Storm Wipha, Super Typhoon Ragasa, chikungunya fever, norovirus, and etomidate, the space oil drug that Hong Kong is clamping down on.
Decoding Gen Z and Alpha slang
If the slang of today’s youth baffles you, rest assured – you’re not alone. Google recorded colloquial expressions among Hongkongers’ top trending searches, with “67”, a term popular among Gen Alphas, topping the list. “Scoundrel” – is that even considered slang? – came second, followed by “Sigma Boy”, popularised by the same-named meme song.
A surprising shift in travel horizons
Interestingly, Google has also recorded the top trending searches for the weather forecasts of outbound destinations – presumably because of Hongkongers’ travel plans to these places – and the results might surprise you. At the top of the list is Toronto, followed by Phu Quoc in Vietnam, Sendai and Ishigaki Island in Japan, and a few mainland Chinese cities in nearby Guangdong province such as Dongguan, Qingyuan, and Zhongshan. No mention of Tokyo, Seoul, London, Sydney, Paris, or other world capitals – it looks like travel tastes among Hongkongers might be changing.
Pop culture trends in 2025
In people and celebrities both local and global, trending searches included the infamous Nanjing Sister Hong, tennis star Coleman Wong Chak-lam, actor and TV chef Nicolas Tse, Donald Trump, American online streamer IShowSpeed, Coldplay, and comedian Jimmy O. Yang, among many others. Google Hong Kong also shared the top trending searches for lyrics, and – surprise, surprise – it was the hit tune of the year, “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. So what we’re hearing is that next time we go to karaoke, there’s no excuse for not singing along!
Check out Time Out Hong Kong’s own list of trending topics in 2025!
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