Google tests AI Mode as default Chrome search, then calls it an error after user backlash

Google Testing Chrome Feature That Sends Search Queries Directly to AI Mode

Google is reportedly testing a new Chrome feature that allows users to route all their search queries directly to AI Mode. Windows Report noticed it in the Chrome Canary build and says it looks more ready than the usual experiments. Currently, search queries in Chrome return results in the "All" tab by default. The page starts with an AI Overview for most queries and then leads you to organic blue links. However, you can click "Show more" under the AI Overview and enter AI Mode by typing a follow-up query in the chatbot box that appears. There's also an AI Mode tab up top. With the under-development feature in Chrome Canary, all the queries you drop in the address or search bar take you automatically to the AI Mode box. It's not enabled by default and is currently a hidden flag in Canary. For now, it's called "Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode," and its description says that it "redirects all normal searchbox queries in the omnibox and realbox to AI mode threads. - Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS." According to a video shared by Windows Report, you can enable the feature in Chrome Settings. The page gives you three options: Default, Enable, and Disable. The Enable button here suggests that you may be able to use the feature for just a specific browsing session. Canary is where Google tests all its browser features before launching them in a stable version of Chrome. Not all the features make the final cut, and the author's note for this feature carries the same message: "This is just for exploration. There are no current plans to push this live." That said, it wouldn't be surprising to see Google push more AI features into the Search experience. In fact, at I/O last month, Google announced what it called "the biggest upgrade to our Search box in over 25 years" within AI Mode. That resulted in a surge of app installs for privacy-centric search engine DuckDuckGo.

Google experiments with sending Chrome searches straight to AI - Engadget

The company is reportedly bypassing classic search results in its testing browser. Google seems to be mulling the idea of giving you the option to go straight to AI Mode when you do search queries. Windows Report has discovered a new hidden hidden flag in Chrome Canary, the browser's most experimental variant meant for developers and early adopters, that will take you to AI Mode by default. The publication has confirmed that the test feature works when enabled and has noted that it looks a lot more complete and ready to ship than typical prototypes. When you do search queries on the regular Chrome today, Google will take you to the "All" page that includes an AI Overview with a summary of the results you get, followed by blue links that lead to individual websites. You would have to tab over to AI Mode if you want to use it. But when the flag is enabled in Canary, you're taken straight to AI Mode, which looks and acts more like a chatbot conversation than your typical Google search results page. While Google hasn't publicly announced this test, the company has been putting more and more AI features into its products recently. At I/O 2026, it launched the new "Intelligent Search Box," which can take videos, images, files and even Chrome tabs as inputs for search queries. After that announcement, DuckDuckGo experienced a surge in installs and usage of its no-AI search website, most likely from people looking for alternatives that won't try to force them to use artificial intelligence. If you do want to see the experimental feature for yourself, open Chrome Canary and go to chrome://flags. You'll see a new option that reads "Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode." Its description says it will work on Mac, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS. At the moment, though, Google doesn't seem to have concrete plans to roll it out anytime soon. Windows Report says it found a note from the author of the flag's code that says: "This is just for exploration. There are no current plans to push this live."

Google tests making AI Mode the default in Search, then says it was an error

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. A hot potato: The nightmare scenario in which AI Mode becomes the default in Google Search - something the company once suggested would happen - briefly became a reality. But before users had a chance to abandon Chrome in droves, an exec confirmed that it was an error, and there are no plans to make AI Mode the default. As spotted by Windows Report, a flag in the new Chrome Canary release called Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode appeared to confirm people's worst fears. The flag's description explained that it "redirects all normal searchbox queries in the omnibox and realbox to AI mode threads. - Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS." As you can work out, enabling the flag caused Google Search results to show in AI Mode by default - rather than needing to click on the AI Mode tab at the top like in the regular Google search results. Google uses Canary to test features for its browser before they appear in the latest stable version of Chrome, though not all of them make the cut. There are several reasons why Google would make AI Mode the default, despite the majority of users not wanting it. Like other tech giants, Google has poured billions into artificial intelligence and wants a return on its investment, even if users are sick of having AI rammed down their throats. The bigger indication is that Google has already hinted this was its long-term plan. Back in September, Logan Kilpatrick, lead product manager for Google AI Studio, posted a message on X about AI Mode becoming more accessible at the new google.com/AI URL. Another user said that the mode should be the default for Search, to which Kilpatrick replied "soon :)". Google Search vice president Robby Stein then tried to downplay the comment after a barrage of vitriol from angry users. He noted that he "wouldn't read too much into this" as the focus was on making AI Mode easier to access. Thankfully, Google has confirmed AI Mode is not becoming the default - at least not yet. Rajan Patel, VP of Engineering for Search at the company, said that the setting appearing in Chrome's Canary build "was an error. We're not planning to make AI Mode the default for Chrome searches." Whether Patel is telling the truth and this really was an error, or whether this was a response to the outcry over an intended Canary feature, remains to be seen.

Google denies plans to make AI Mode Chrome's default for search

Google VP Rajan Patel now denies that this means that the company's planning to make AI Mode the default. Anyone who's used Google to look something up in the past couple years already knows just how aggressively Search has been trying to steer users towards its AI-powered offerings. Whether that's just AI Overviews, or full-on AI Mode, it feels like the company's doing all it can to direct us away from old ways of searching. Earlier today, we shared with you how Chrome appeared to be getting ready to make AI Mode its default for searches through the browser's Omnibox. And now, Google is already shooting that theory down. What we saw was a flag in a new Chrome Canary release labeled "Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode" that swapped your address bar's behavior from performing a normal Google Search to running your text through AI Mode when the flag was enabled. Flags are often used to test new features before they're enabled for all users by default, so it at least seemed possible that Google was preparing to eventually start pushing everyone running Chrome to this new experience. Still, if you were worried that your Chrome search experience was about to fundamentally change, breathe easy! For now.

Your Chrome searches could soon bypass Google Search entirely

Karandeep Singh Oberoi is a Durham College Journalism and Mass Media graduate who joined the Android Police team in April 2024, after serving as a full-time News Writer at Canadian publication MobileSyrup. Prior to joining Android Police, Oberoi worked on feature stories, reviews, evergreen articles, and focused on 'how-to' resources. Additionally, he informed readers about the latest deals and discounts with quick hit pieces and buyer's guides for all occasions. Oberoi lives in Toronto, Canada. When not working on a new story, he likes to hit the gym, play soccer (although he keeps calling it football for some reason🤔) and try out new restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area. For years now, Google Chrome has shaped our Google Search muscle memory. Whenever you're scrambling to Google Search something, you would open Chrome and type in your query in the address bar right at the top and send it through. This would automatically open Google Search, complete with your query answered. Google's not looking to change the workflow, but it is looking to change what shows up when you press enter on your query. Google's AI Mode just got a lot smarter, and the search box is changing too Information agents, agentic coding, and more Posts By Chethan Rao Instead of Google Search, prompting your query directly in the address bar might soon lead you to AI Mode. The development was highlighted by the folks over at Windows Report, adding that the change is already in testing as a feature flag in Chrome Canary. The flag is aptly named 'Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode.' The flag is supposed to work across Mac, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS, but not on the Chrome mobile apps. In my case, despite enabling it, searchbox queries still get directed to Google Search. That's not the case with Windows Report. For them, searchbox queries automatically go to AI Mode after enabling the flag. To try out the implementation for yourself, download and install Chrome Canary on any of the supported platforms mentioned above. From there, head to chrome://flags and search for the word "Fulfill." There's only one flag with that keyword, and it should pop right up. Enable the flag and restart Canary for it to kick in. It's worth noting that this is still an experiment, and it's not certain if Google will ship this for all. According to a code commit from Google, "This is just for exploration. There are no current plans to push this live." If it does go live for all, it will be a jarring shift for users that have grown accustomed to the classic Google Search experience.

Google Chrome tests sending users straight to AI Mode instead of Search

Google is in the early days of testing a new behavior in Chrome that sends users straight to AI Mode, bypassing the standard Search experience. Spotted by Windows Report, Google is testing a new flag on Chrome that, when enabled, bypasses standard Google Search and sends users straight into AI Mode. As Google describes it: Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode Redirects all normal searchbox queries in the omnibox and realbox to AI mode threads. - Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS The flag is showing up in the latest Chrome Canary build on desktop platforms, but not mobile devices. And, true to its description, the change does send users straight into AI Mode from the Chrome Omnibox. Typing in anything other than a URL will send users into AI Mode which, after years of seeing standard Google Search in that spot, is admittedly a bit jarring. Here's what it looks like in action. That said, it sounds like Google is just testing this out, rather than looking to make the swap in behavior. For one, this isn't enabled by default. Users need to manually go into chrome://flags and both search out and enable this behavior, and it's limited to the Canary release channel on top of that. But, if that weren't enough, a commit from Google explicitly says: This is just for exploration. There are no current plans to push this live. Things can change, of course, but it seems standard Google Search in Chrome is safe - at least for now. Google Chrome is a huge entry point for Search, and as AI becomes more and more of Google's focus, it's not hard to imagine a future where this "exploration" becomes default behavior.

Google could make AI Mode the default way to search in Chrome

Google also said something similar when it was testing AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google Chrome may be simple and fast, but it's got a bunch of experimental features hidden behind Chrome flags that are often precursors to upcoming features. Now, a new flag has been spotted in Chrome Canary that could mean Google is getting ready to push AI Mode more aggressively. The flag in question is named "Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode" and was first spotted by WindowsReport. As its name suggests, it routes searches made in the Chrome address bar directly to AI Mode. This is a major change in the behavior of Chrome's address bar, which normally takes users to a regular Google Search. I tested the flag in Chrome Canary, and it definitely works as advertised. Searching for "Android Authority" after enabling the flag directly took me to an AI Mode search for the keyword. It's worth noting that the "AI Mode" button, though redundant after enabling the flag, is still there in the address bar. Reading through its description in the commit that introduces the new flag makes it evident that the feature is already highly polished. It will, for example, respect a user's intent to open the search in a new tab based on modifier keys: Ctrl, Command, etc. While the description also mentions that the feature is simply there for exploration and that there are no plans to roll it out, that doesn't mean the company couldn't push it as the default behavior for the Omnibar later down the line. In fact, Google also used a similar framing when it was testing AI Overviews and AI Mode before rolling out both of those features to users. AI Mode is clearly something Google would like more people to start using, whether they want to or not. Recently, the company has been experimenting with a floating AI Mode search bar on Windows. Since this new AI Mode integration is just a flag in Canary right now, we can't say for certain that Google will ever make it the default behavior in Chrome. However, it feels more than likely considering the company's push to make its AI Search features even more popular.