If https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Translate does not seem like having business value to you, then I don't understand what you mean by "business value".
There's no way Google Translate will ever be monetized. So yes, it's effectively an expensive art project for Google, not something that brings real business value.
Hotword detection ('ok google') is a practical application of AI, but that's really slim pickings considering how hyped 'AI' was. (Also, the costs of data collection for this feature are still way too high.)
Let me close my argument: neural network techniques developed in the last ten years are super useful here and now, they are used by billions of people every day and they do make their lives easier.
Not really. My point is simple: as of 2020, any proposition for a business to 'invest in AI' is a money-losing proposition. (Just like 'blockchain'.)
"We collect information to provide better services to all our users — from figuring out basic stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful, the people who matter most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like..."
Obviously I don't have access to Google's accounting sheets, but there's no way in hell Google Translate pays for itself if you take all the costs of R&D into account.
Reason being that professionals who might pay big money for it want stuff other than just shiny 'AI' - they might want stuff like professional dictionaries and cited sources, etc.
And obviously people who translate random webpages for the lulz won't be paying much for this service.
If you all of a sudden start using Google Translate for Spanish and you think the phrases you are translating won't get used to serve you more targeted adverts for your upcoming vacation, you're being a bit naive.
Google Translate is being monetized. It's as easy a guess as yours to say that there's no way in hell Google Translate stays around if it didn't already pay for itself a long time ago. But let's stop guessing please.
I personally know companies spending tens of thousands per month on Google Translate.