The news was shared by Google in one of their blog posts, along with other announcements as well. Google also held a special press event in San Francisco on December 10th as well.
During the even, two of the more important tidbits that was shared with the public included the fact that AMP pages may get a ranking boost and maybe even a “fast” label designation. This is similar to how Google shows labels for mobile-friendly pages.
Although Google hasn’t confirmed this themselves, there was discussion about mobile page speed as an existing ranking factor. Because AMP will improve load time and page speed, those who are utilizing AMP pages could very well be prioritized in search results. Again, there hasn’t been any confirmation by Google on this, but AMP will probably be one of the best ways to help improve page load times.
Of course, AMP isn’t the only way to speed up mobile pages. Google said that any label wasn’t certain and that they are working on both user interface and experience for integrating AMP pages.
There is already a test site that Google is running that lets you see how AMP pages appear. When the company ends up integrating AMP into regular Google search, it could end up differing a bit. A fast designation is simply one example of this.