Google's AI Mode: The Future of Search Unveiled at I/O 2025

At I/O 2025, Google leaves no doubt that AI Mode is the future of search

Google used to be all about the 10 blue links, but that was then, and this is now. You have to scroll farther than ever to get to the links in Google search results, and now this trend is being taken to its ultimate conclusion. At I/O, the company has announced a major expansion of AI Mode search, which heralds a new era for its signature product. There are big changes coming, some of which will start rewriting the web sooner than you think. The past several years at Google have been marked by an all-consuming obsession with generative AI. It has invaded your search results as AI Overviews, but Google has made it clear at I/O 2025 that AI Overviews was just practice. AI Mode is the game. Everyone at Google is acutely aware of this shift -- at the end of the I/O keynote, CEO Sundar Pichai showed a cheeky AI counter graphic that tracked how many times speakers had mentioned "AI" and "Gemini." But Google is serious about AI in general and AI search in particular. To that end, the AI Mode search that first debuted a few months ago as a Labs experiment is graduating to the main Google search page for everyone, and it's available to everyone. It's not the default way of searching the web, but it seems like only a matter of time before that happens. According to Pichai, people search more and enter longer, more complex queries in AI Mode, which is exactly the kind of search AI is good at handling. As AI Mode increasingly takes over the search experiences, you'll notice some new features. AI Mode is running a customized version of Gemini 2.5, and Google wants the answers generated by it to be relevant to the person asking. The best way to do that, it would seem, is to pipe some of your personal data into AI Mode. That's starting with support for Gmail, which allows AI Mode to adjust based on things like booking emails and online purchase receipts. Google is careful to point out you can enable and disable this feature at any time, and AI Mode will indicate when it's using your personal context. AI Mode as Google's next frontier Google is the world's largest advertising entity, but search is what fuels the company. Quarter after quarter, Google crows about increasing search volume -- it's the most important internal metric for the company. Google has made plenty of changes to its search engine results pages (SERPs) over the years, but AI mode throws that all out. It doesn't have traditional search results no matter how far you scroll. To hear Google's leadership tell it, AI Mode is an attempt to simplify finding information. According to Liz Reid, Google's head of search, the next year in search is about going from information to intelligence. When you are searching for information on a complex issue, you probably have to look at a lot of web sources. It's rare that you'll find a single page that answers all your questions, and maybe you should be using AI for that stuff. The challenge for AI search is to simplify the process of finding information, essentially doing the leg work for you. When speaking about the move to AI search, DeepMind CTO Koray Kavukcuoglu says that search is the greatest product in the world, and if AI makes it easier to search for information, that's a net positive. Latency is important in search -- people don't like to wait for things to load, which is why Google has always emphasized the speed of its services. But AI can be slow. The key, says Reid, is to know when users will accept a longer wait. For example, AI Overviews is designed to spit out tokens faster because it's part of the core search experience. AI Mode, however, has the luxury of taking more time to "think." If you're shopping for a new appliance, you might do a few hours of research. So an AI search experience that takes longer to come up with a comprehensive answer with tables, formatting, and background info might be a desirable experience because it still saves you time. As part of Google's AI Mode rollout, it's previewing some upcoming features, including shopping results (Google likes money, after all) and Deep Search. The latter is a more "agentic" take on search, using the same fan-out technique as standard AI Mode but taken to the extreme. By gathering more data, Google predicts expert-level reports on your most complex search queries. It will take longer to create a result, but for some searches, that may still save you time. This feature is still in testing, but Google suggests we could see it roll out later this year. Search is on the road to AGI AI Mode is adopting an agentic take on search, moving Google closer to its goal of deploying AI that has human-like capabilities -- artificial general intelligence, or AGI. That kind of system could theoretically answer any question you have by poking around the web much faster than you ever could. Google Cofounder Sergey Brin isn't shy about predicting the future, noting during an I/O talk that he believes Gemini will become the world's first AGI before 2030. There's a long way to go before we get there, and Google's leadership is upfront about that. According to DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, it's still far too easy to find the gaps in today's AI systems. Even the best generative AI gets simple things wrong at random. We've all seen that when an AI hallucinates a person or piece of media or screws up simple arithmetic. According to Hassabis, identifying errors in an AGI should take a team of data scientists months. Currently, anyone can trip up AI in minutes. Hassabis slightly disagrees with Brin on the timeline for AGI, but not by much. He thinks Gemini will be something we could call AGI in the early 2030s. Whether Google's AI search actually saves you time right now is heavily dependent on what you need to know. But as the company expands AI, you're probably going to see more robots talking to you and fewer search results. We can only hope that we are getting closer to the AGI future envisioned by Hassabis and Brin before Google puts the blue links even more out of reach.

Google's AI Mode Will Change How You Search. What to Expect

Expertise artificial intelligence, home energy, heating and cooling, home technology A new tab is coming to your Google Search bar, and it's going to feel a lot more like an AI chatbot than a traditional search engine. Google started testing AI Mode earlier this year and announced at Tuesday's I/O developers conference that the feature will roll out to everyone in the US in the coming weeks. It uses a custom version of the Gemini generative AI model to give conversational responses and pull information from a variety of sources. Read more: Google I/O 2025 Liveblog: Gemini AI Updates, Android XR, Spotlight on AI and more At last year's I/O conference, Google introduced AI Overviews, which have driven a major shift in Google search and in the internet's information environment at large. AI Mode promises an even deeper, more chatbot-like experience right in the search bar. "AI Mode is where we will first bring our frontier capabilities into search," CEO Sundar Pichai said. AI Mode will exist as an extra tab on your normal search bar and as new functionality within your search results. Google said AI mode uses a "query fan-out technique" to better break down your search question, including an ability to identify and process multiple searches at a time. Features expected to launch this summer will integrate AI Mode with your other Google apps, meaning the AI model will be able to get context around your searches from information in your email or calendar. If you ask for a restaurant in a city you're visiting, for example, it might suggest places that are near your reservations. Google says you can always disconnect it from your personal apps. A Deep Search function will be able to look at hundreds of different searches and use an AI reasoning model to provide an in-depth, cited response to a question in a matter of minutes, Google said. Other AI Mode features are for shopping. You'll be able to talk conversationally with the tool to narrow down products and even virtually try on outfits. For sports and finance questions, AI Mode will be able to generate graphs based on complex data sets. This feature is expected this summer. The new AI Mode comes as large language models are transforming how people get information on the internet. Questions are becoming more conversational. You may no longer search "best Father's Day gifts." You might instead go to a chatbot and say, "I'm looking for a Father's Day gift. My dad likes Roman history, puzzles and wood crafts." You'll then get a more detailed response, and a conversation, rather than just a set of links that have similar words in them. Elizabeth Reid, vice president and head of search at Google, said users coming to Google Search are asking longer, more difficult questions, and they're asking more questions. Integrating gen AI is one way to address that. "This is the future of Google search, a search that goes beyond information to intelligence," she said. While AI Overviews first brought this kind of technology into the main search results page, AI Mode is integrating it even more. And if you're thinking you can avoid these AI features for a bit longer by sticking with the standard search, think again. What starts in AI Mode might be everywhere soon. "Over time, we'll graduate many of AI Mode's cutting-edge features and capabilities directly into the core search experience," Reid said. A chat-forward AI Mode might be helpful for some search queries, but it isn't the best fit for everything. Eugene Levin, president of the marketing and SEO tool company Semrush, is skeptical that an AI tool is right for every search. "I think the percentage of people who willingly want to use AI Mode for everything is going to be surprisingly low," Levin told me. "I think right now you're going to have a lot of analysts who say this is the future, there's nothing but AI Mode moving forward, and I think that's not what's going to happen." Instead, Levin sees AI Mode as a specific tool that can best handle a specific type of search. Complex questions that might require a lot of follow-up questions might work well in a chat-style approach. But if you're just looking for a specific page, resource or basic facts about something like a movie, a standard search engine might offer quicker results, Levin said. This kind of breakdown of searches -- people using gen AI for one type of query and a standard search engine for another -- is already evident among heavy users of ChatGPT's search functions, Levin said. For certain types of questions, like finding financial information, even heavy ChatGPT users are more likely to turn to Google Search rather than asking the chatbots. "Essentially, there are different types of questions," he said. "And for each type of question, there is a best user interface, user experience."

Google's AI Mode Will Change Your Search Experience. Here's How

Expertise artificial intelligence, home energy, heating and cooling, home technology A new tab is coming to your Google Search bar, and it's going to feel a lot more like an AI chatbot than a traditional search engine. Google started testing AI Mode earlier this year, and announced at Tuesday's I/O developers conference that the feature will roll out to everyone in the US in the coming weeks. It uses a custom version of the Gemini generative AI model to give conversational responses and pull information from a variety of sources. Read more: Google I/O 2025 Liveblog: Gemini AI Updates, Android XR, Spotlight on AI and more At last year's I/O conference, Google introduced AI Overviews, which have driven a major shift in Google search and in the internet's information environment at large. AI Mode promises an even deeper, more chatbot-like experience right in the search bar. "AI Mode is where we will first bring our frontier capabilities into search," CEO Sundar Pichai said. AI Mode will exist as an extra tab on your normal search bar and as new functionality within your search results. Google said AI mode uses a "query fan-out technique" to better break down your search question, including an ability to identify and process multiple searches at a time. Features expected to launch this summer will integrate AI Mode with your other Google apps, meaning the AI model will be able to get context around your searches from information in your email or calendar. If you ask for a restaurant in a city you're visiting, for example, it might suggest places that are near your reservations. Google says you can always disconnect it from your personal apps. A Deep Search function will be able to look at hundreds of different searches and use an AI reasoning model to provide an in-depth, cited response to a question in a matter of minutes, Google said. Other AI Mode features are around shopping. You'll be able to talk conversationally with the tool to narrow down products and even virtually try on outfits. For sports and finance questions, AI Mode will be able to generate graphs based on complex data sets. This feature is expected this summer. The new AI Mode comes as large language models are transforming how people get information on the internet. Questions are becoming more conversational. You may no longer search "best Father's Day gifts." You might instead go to a chatbot and say, "I'm looking for a Father's Day gift. My dad likes Roman history, puzzles and wood crafts." You'll then get a more detailed response, and a conversation, rather than just a set of links that have similar words in them. Elizabeth Reid, vice president and head of search at Google, said users coming to Google Search are asking longer, more difficult questions, and they're asking more questions. Integrating gen AI is one way to address that. "This is the future of Google search, a search that goes beyond information to intelligence," she said. While AI Overviews first brought this kind of technology into the main search results page, AI Mode is integrating it even more. And if you're thinking you can avoid these AI features for a bit longer by sticking with the standard search, think again. What starts in AI Mode might be everywhere soon. "Over time, we'll graduate many of AI Mode's cutting-edge features and capabilities directly into the core search experience," Reid said.

Google's 'AI Mode' Is Coming for Us All

Calling that AI interface "one of the most successful launches in search in the past decade" in a press briefing Monday, CEO Sundar Pichai and other Google executives outlined a series of AI augmentations of its core search product. "They're asking longer questions, harder questions, more complex questions," said Liz Reid, a vice president and head of Google Search. "It really creates an experience where people can come to us and ask any question that they have." A custom version of the 2.5 version of Google's Gemini AI platform, debuted in March, is coming to both AI Overview and AI Mode to allow both to process more complex queries-in AI Mode's case, by employing a "fan-out" technique of running searches in parallel. Google research shows that AI Overviews, which the company says more than 1.5 billion people now use, has driven a 10% increase in search use in the US and India. But the workings of this non-conversational interface, in which Google's AI generates answers based on the content of pages it finds, also has publishers worried that fewer people will click through the links Overview shows to support its answers. For example, last week the British media trade pub Press Gazette quoted Daily Mail SEO director Carly Steven as saying that AI Overview results had roughly half the clickthroughs to the British tabloid's site of traditional results-a 56% in desktop browsers, 48% on mobile browsers. Reid did not share clickthrough data in the briefing but said those that did happen are more valuable to publishers. "Pages with AI Overview get higher-quality clickthroughs to web sites," she said. "What that means is, people spend more time on those web sites." We asked for metrics documenting that but did not get a response. A Few Options for Early Adopters Google will offer some advanced search options via its Labs opt-in experience. Search Live leverages the image-recognition technology demoed as Project Astra at last year's I/O to allow interactive search sessions that start by pointing your phone's camera at something nearby. In an example video shown in the briefing, this began with a bike mechanic asking Google to find a manual for the bike he needed to fix-then went on to include increasingly specific queries about the kind of screw needed. A separate set of features address at-home apparel acquisition. A virtual try-on option lets you upload a picture of yourself-full-length, dressed in fitting clothes, the background doesn't seem to matter-and have AI routines generate a model of you that then shows what the clothing in question will look like. AI Mode can then perform fan-out queries to see which shops have the best price. Particularly adventurous (or lazy) shoppers can also put Google's agentic AI to work by having it not only find the cheapest price for that shirt, purse, or pair of sports tickets and then take you through the checkout process, assuming the merchant supports Google Pay. But not all the way, clarified Vidhya Srinivasan, vice president and general manager for Google ads and commerce, in the briefing: "You still have to click on 'buy for me' for this to happen." Personalized Search Results From Gmail, If You Want Them Yet another search option will not only require an opt-in but will come with some level of are-you-sure reminders: Google search results not only tailored to your past search and web activity but to the contents of your Gmail. Reid described this as something you might only want to toggle on for particular queries that could benefit from a scan of your inbox, saying "you can connect it and disconnect it at any time." The company plans to offer options to connect other Google apps to your search, but Pichai was unusually specific during the Q&A part of the briefing in saying that this will remain an opt-in experience. "We are going to make these explicit user actions, so none of this will ever work automatically," he said. "There will be friction in the flow, so people can decide what to connect." For more, check out our rundown of everything Google announced at I/O day one.

Google starts embedding AI chatbot into search

Google is introducing a new artificial intelligence mode that more firmly embeds chatbot capabilities into its search engine, aiming to give users the experience of having a conversation with an expert. The "AI Mode" was made available in the US on Tuesday, appearing as an option in Google's search bar. The change, unveiled at the company's annual developers conference in Mountain View, California, is part of the tech giant's push to remain competitive against ChatGPT and other AI services, which threaten to erode Google's dominance of online search. The company also announced plans for its own augmented reality glasses and said it planned to offer a subscription AI tool. Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google-parent Alphabet, said the incorporation of the company's Gemini chatbot into its search signalled a "new phase of the AI platform shift". "With more advanced reasoning, you can ask AI both longer and more complex queries," Pichai told the audience. Google also announced a new foray into AI-powered glasses. The company pioneered smart glasses more than a decade ago with its "Google Glasses", which ultimately flopped. With the renewed effort, Google hopes to compete against Meta's AI-powered glasses made with Ray-Ban. The new Google glasses, which are being developed with eyeglass retailers Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, will feature a camera, microphone, and speakers. The company said it expected to start building the new product later this year. Leo Gebbie, principal analyst and director for the Americas at CCS Insight, said Google had been expected to wrap AI more tightly into its products. He said he thought the chatbot would help minimise the number of web pages that users must sift through, while also allowing people to ask more complicated queries. "For the end user, this should mean less time spent browsing the web itself, and more time spent talking with Google's AI tools," he said. Any updates that Google makes to search are "of critical importance," added Gebbie, since the search business contributes the vast majority of Google's revenues. The announcements also come as the company fights a court battle in the US over potential changes to its business after a judge ruled it had a monopoly in search. Google has had mixed success in its recent attempts to incorporate more AI into its services. Its AI Overviews feature, unveiled by Google at its developers conference last year, offers AI-generated summaries that currently appear at the top of search results. It initially generated ridicule from users who posted some of the odd responses they received, as when it advised one user that non-toxic glue could help make cheese stick to pizza. Another widely circulated response stated that geologists recommend humans eat one rock each day. A Google spokesperson said at the time that these were "isolated examples." Mr Pichai said on Tuesday that AI Overviews now gets 1.5 billion uses per month in more than 200 countries and territories. In its biggest markets - the US and India - AI Overviews drive more than 10% of growth in the types of queries that show them, Pichai said. "It's one of the most successful launches in search in the past decade," he added. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

Google’s New AI Mode for Search Cranks Gemini to Max Volume

If you want the maximum amount of AI in your web search, Google's got your back. Looks like Google is doubling down on AI-centric search despite a rocky, glue-pizza-marred rollout last year. At Google I/O 2025, the company announced "AI Mode" for search that greatly expands what it started with AI Overviews. According to Google, "AI Mode," which is available in Labs starting Tuesday, "expands what AI Overviews can do with more advanced reasoning and thinking and multimodal capabilities." In plain English, that means a lot more Gemini in your search. Specifically, Google says AI Mode will be able to answer "your toughest questions" and can be used to go more in-depth, asking follow-ups and providing "helpful web links." AI Mode is based on a custom version of Gemini 2.0, according to Google, and uses real-time sources like the Knowledge Graphâ€"Google's own database of people, places, and thingsâ€"to pull data as well as (of course) shopping data. In practice, Google says AI Mode can be used to compare products with queries like, “What's the difference in sleep tracking features between a smart ring, smartwatch, and tracking mat?†or "What happens to your heart rate during deep sleep?†and will conduct research for you by leveraging multiple sources across the web. This all sounds well and good on the surface, but it's worth noting that Google's previous attempts at AI-forward search haven't exactly worked out as intended. Its AI Overviews were rocky to say the least and ended up peddling straight-up misinformation. In one particularly egregious instance, Google's AI search even recommended that someone try putting glue on their pizza to get the cheese to stick. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that's not really the type of next-gen search prowess we've been waiting for. For what it's worth, Google at least gave some lip service, however indirect, to fixing those problems in its explanation of AI mode. "AI Mode is rooted in our core quality and ranking systems, and we’re also using novel approaches with the model’s reasoning capabilities to improve actuality," Google said in a statement. "We aim to show an AI-powered response as much as possible, but in cases where we don’t have high confidence in helpfulness and quality, the response will be a set of web search results." And that's always kind of the problem with AI search, or sometimes AI in general, isn't it? We want it to make our lives easier or get us to the truth faster, but we're not quite at the point of being able to trust it fully yet. Web search, even without generative AI hallucinating facts or trying to serve up glue pizza, is already a messy thing that often falls victim to bias and misinformation, and until those problems are solved (given that they can be solved), I'm going to assume AI Mode or any other kind of AI search is going to contend with the same pitfalls. I'm hopeful, though, because web search does need to get better, and if I can find more reliable, useful information faster with the help of AI, I'll be the first adopter. So, you're up, AI Mode! Time to get in the kitchen and show us if you're a less toxic pizza chef than your predecessor.

Search gets smarter: Google rolls out AI mode for all US users

The search engine giant announced a revamped "AI mode" for Search, now available to all U.S. users, that aims to make web searches feel more like a conversation with a well-informed assistant rather than scrolling through links. The company also revealed it's integrating its powerful Gemini 2.5 AI model into Search, enhancing its ability to handle longer, more complex queries. CEO Sundar Pichai describes the AI mode as a "total reimagining of search," transforming Google's flagship product from a directory of links into an interactive AI assistant. "Search is bringing AI to more people than any other product in the world," Pichai said before a packed crowd in an amphitheater near the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters. .Early features include AI-generated overviews, ticket-booking capabilities, making reservations, and filling out forms, with partnerships from Ticketmaster and Resy. A new "Live" capability lets users interact with Search through their camera in real time, reshaping how people engage with the internet. AI Mode also gives a major boost to shopping with virtual try-ons and an agentic checkout assistant.

Google's unveils 'AI Mode' in the next phase of its journey to change search

Search engine revamp and Gemini 2.5 introduced at conference in latest showing tech giant is all in on AI Google on Tuesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine that is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of internet traffic to other websites. The next phase outlined at Google's annual developers conference includes releasing a new "AI mode" option in the United States. The company says the feature will make interacting with its search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering a wide array of questions. AI mode is being offered to all users in the US just two and a half months after the company began testing with a limited Labs division audience. Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms and will soon begin testing other AI features, such as the ability to automatically buy concert tickets and conduct searches through live video feeds. In another example of Google's all-in approach to AI, the company revealed it is planning to leverage the technology to re-enter the smart glasses market with a new pair of Android XR-powered spectacles. The preview of the forthcoming device, which includes a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant, comes 13 years after the debut of Google Glass, a product that the company scrapped after a public backlash over privacy concerns. Google didn't say when its Android XR glasses will be available or how much they will cost, but disclosed they will be designed in partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The glasses will compete against a similar product already on the market from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Ray-Ban. The expansion builds upon a transformation that Google began a year ago with the introduction of conversational summaries called "AI overviews" that have been increasingly appearing at the top of its results page and eclipsing its traditional rankings of web links. About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with "AI overviews," according to Google, and most users are now entering longer and more complex queries. "What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world," Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, said before a packed crowd in an amphitheater near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. Although Pichai and other Google executives predicted AI overviews would trigger more searches and ultimately more clicks to other sites, it hasn't worked out that way so far, according to the findings of search optimization firm BrightEdge. Clickthrough rates from Google's search results have declined by nearly 30% during the past year, according to BrightEdge's recently released study, which attributed the decrease to people becoming increasingly satisfied with AI overviews. The decision to make AI mode broadly available after a relatively short test period reflects Google's confidence that the technology won't habitually spew misinformation that tarnishes its brand's reputation, and acknowledges the growing competition from other AI-powered search options from the likes of ChatGPT and Perplexity. The rapid rise of AI alternatives emerged as a recurring theme in legal proceedings that could force Google to dismantle parts of its internet empire after a federal judge last year declared its search engine to be an illegal monopoly. In testimony during a trial earlier this month, longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue said Google searches done through the iPhone maker's Safari browser have been declining because more people are leaning on AI-powered alternatives. Google has cited the upheaval being caused by AI's rise as one of the main reasons that it should only be required to make relatively minor changes to the way it operates its search engine because technology already is changing the competitive landscape. But Google's reliance on more AI so far appears to be enabling its search engine to maintain its mantle as the internet's main gateway - a position that's the main reason its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc, boasts a market value of $2tn. During the year ending in March, Google received 136bn monthly visits, 34 times more than ChatGPT's average of 4bn monthly visits, according to data compiled by onelittleweb.com. Even Google's own AI mode acknowledged that the company's search engine seems unlikely to be significantly hurt by the shift to AI technology when a reporter from the Associated Press asked whether its introduction would make the company even more powerful. "Yes, it is highly likely that Google's AI mode will make Google more powerful, particularly in the realm of information access and online influence," the AI mode responded. The feature also warns that web publishers should be concerned about AI mode reducing the traffic they get from search results. Google's upcoming tests in its labs division foreshadow the next wave of AI technology likely to be made available to the masses. Besides using its Project Mariner technology to test the ability of an AI agent to buy tickets and book restaurant reservations, Google will also experiment with searches done through live video and an opt-in option to give its AI technology access to people's Gmail and other Google apps so it can learn more about a user's tastes and habits. Other features on this summer's test list include a "Deep Search" option that will use AI to dig even deeper into complex topics and another tool that will produce graphical presentations of sports and finance data. Google is also introducing its equivalent of a VIP pass to all its AI technology with an "Ultra" subscription package that will cost $250 per month and include 30 terabytes of storage, too. That's a big step beyond Google's previous top-of-the-line package, which is now called "AI Pro," that costs $20 per month and includes two terabytes of storage.

I've been using Google's new AI mode for Search - here's how to master it

Google's AI Mode has finally emerged from Google Labs after a long period of experimentation and improvement. Now, anyone in the US can play around with using Google's AI Mode to find answers about complex topics, among its other highlights. AI Mode is a very different experience from the traditional Google Search and goes well beyond the paragraph AI Overview that everyone sees in terms of what it can do. That's because AI Mode works by sending out multiple related questions based on your initial single prompt. The responses from AI Mode are more comprehensive because they are based on simultaneous searches leveraging Gemini AI. Unlike regular search, you'll get full paragraphs, with summaries, bullet point breakdowns, comparisons, and suggestions for follow-up questions a la Perplexity. You ask it something like, "Which is better for a fall trip: Niagara or the Finger Lakes?" and instead of a thousand travel blogs, it gives you a tidy breakdown of pros and cons, best months to visit, and whether or not you'll need bear spray. All you need to do to get to AI Mode once it's available for you is to click on the AI Mode tab on the left of Google's search page. The real secret is learning how to use it well. Be specific While AI mode can be impressive, it's also a bit like a genie that is very literal in its responses. Broad queries such as "best headphones" will still get you something useful, but when you ask for "best noise-canceling headphones under $200 for frequent flyers with small ears," AI Mode really shines. That said, we'd still point you to our own best noise-canceling headphones guide for the absolute best advice, from people who have tested these things for many years. AI will never be able to do that. (Or at least not yet.) AI Mode shouldn't be the go-to for everything, of course. If you just need to look up a phone number, confirm the weather, or settle a bet about which "Fast & Furious" movie has the submarine, regular Google still wins for speed. But if you're researching, planning, comparing, or learning, AI Mode can be a real comfort. Ultimately, they can work together depending on your needs. AI search "feels very far from a zero-sum moment," as Google CEO Sundar Pichai put it. AI info hunter I've used AI Mode for everything from planning meals to fixing plumbing and deciding on a movie to watch among multiple choices. The follow-ups give AI Mode real juice, because if the initial answer isn't enough, you can ask deeper or tangential questions without rephrasing everything. So, if I start with, "How do I begin composting?" and then ask, "What's the best hut to put it in?" or "What should I add to make the eventual soil extra healthy?" that will likely guide it in the right direction. Though useful, you should still take a grain or 10 of salt with the answers. As with AI Overviews, AI Mode is not infallible. It can misquote sources, hallucinate facts, or paraphrase in ways that sound authoritative but don't quite check out. I once caught it claiming that oat milk is naturally carbonated (it is not). There's also the question of privacy. You're sharing a lot more detail than just a few keywords, and it's tracking a thread of what you're saying. It's not that you shouldn't use it, but be aware that that's part of the price for the features. Proactive online search Still, there's no denying how useful it is. The more I use AI Mode, the more I find myself reaching for it first, especially when I don't know how to phrase what I'm looking for. Like, "What kind of garden vegetables are low-maintenance and survive mild neglect?" AI Mode told me to plant kale. AI Mode makes for a more proactive form of Google Search. It nudges you toward potentially better questions and explains how it is solving problems. So, give the AI Mode button a tap and see what you can find. You might not get perfection, but you'll almost always get something useful or at least entertainingly useless. As Pichai put it, AI search has "made the web itself more exciting." You might also like

What is Google's AI Mode, and how will it change search forever?

AI Mode promises to upend the entire search industry as we know it. At this year's Google I/O conference, the company introduced a series of products that promise to radically shift the way people interface with the web, starting today. As a part of its broader plan to make AI, and specifically its own AI, Gemini, the center of your world, the company shared more about what it's calling "AI Mode" for Google Search. AI Mode, first shown to journalists and other insiders in early March, aims to transform the way you interact with the broader web and fundamentally change how the search engine company views the act of searching itself. For starters, it helps to discern between two different Google features with almost confusingly similar names: Google AI Overview and Google AI Mode. AI Overview was introduced to the public last year in May of 2024, with often hilariously off-base and sometimes even dangerous results. Powered by the now comparatively ancient PaLM 2 LLM, AI Overview is basically a "summarizer" AI that pulls the information you're searching for from a few of the top pages and then combines them into several summarized paragraphs ahead of the rest of the results. Meanwhile, the new AI Mode is powered by the Gemini 2.5 model and can be accessed through an optional tab that launched for all Google users on Tuesday. AI Mode includes AI Overview (now backed by Gemini instead of PaLM 2) and a slew of other features, including Deep Search, Search Live, and agentic capabilities via the company's Project Mariner effort. With all these features combined, Google wants to completely change how you interface with the broader web going forward. With the ability to buy tickets to a game or make reservations at a restaurant in your name with one request, AI Mode could forever usurp the passive, manual process of using the web. During its presentation, Google showed off several of AI Mode's agentic capabilities, including getting tickets to a game and reserving a table at a restaurant afterwards, all in one request. The company didn't demo the full extent of this feature, but having toyed with it myself today, I can say it's surprising how good it is at running off and getting things done for you in a way you always expected AI should. With a more conversational approach to the Google Search experience, AI Mode gathers information from across the web. It condenses everything you might need from a long-chain request into a single window. You can then take from the returned results and refine things even further, bouncing from one search to the next in natural language that remembers what you searched for last. Also, if you use the broader Google suite of products, including Docs and Gmail, AI Mode can further personalize results based on your data history. Once you've found the restaurant you want to order from or the game you want to attend, you tell Google to set it up, and AI Mode handles the rest. The company wasn't done there, though. It also showed new data visualization and analysis tools, where AI Mode can take in, contextualize, and even visualize larger amounts of data compared to a traditional Google Search. Then, the presenter took a beat to unveil Deep Search, a part of AI Mode that can take in several instructions at once and contextualize long-chain requests in a single search. Lastly, like many types of Google Search these days, AI Mode is multimodal. This means users can ask questions via text or voice or even upload images and videos. Combined, this all adds up to a new kind of Google Search that can understand complex queries, perform multi-faceted research, and synthesize responses in real time that consider all aspects of a user's interactions. For those not in the online publishing industry, there are a few different ways that the people and businesses who write, edit, and shoot content make a profit. These include affiliate deals, selling ads, and sponsored content. Two out of three of those revenue streams rely on people, or "clicks," as you'll hear them referred to in our meetings, coming to the site and interacting with the content. The more eyes on the content, the more ads you can sell and the more you can sustain the costs of running the site. While many publishers have already reported diminished clicks in the wake of AI Overview, AI Mode turns the traditional search and SEO model on its head. In essence, AI Mode operates as a chat window designed to Hoover up and repackage broad scopes of information from what otherwise may have been 20-100 different open tabs. For example, when planning your kids' summer camps using traditional Google Search, every unopened tab is a lost click, meaning less money for the sites that Google uses to mine for information. In one of Google's examples during the keynote, a mock user is trying to find summer camp reservations for their kids. The user speaks in complete sentences and natural language as you would with any other LLM, and gives the agent follow-up questions after the first results return. Google will encourage this back-and-forth going forward, as it keeps users in the company's ecosystem for far longer than they used to for a simple search. The longer you're staring at a Google product, ultimately the more ads they'll be able to serve, and the easier it will be to justify the massive datacenter costs required to keep all these AI Mode search plates spinning. But if Google's next big version of search ultimately kills revenue streams for the websites that Gemini depends on to train itself, what will be left for it to learn? As per Google's product page and presentation, AI Mode is rolling out to all users for free today, May 20, 2025. You can activate the feature yourself by opening up a fresh Google tab and clicking the "AI Mode" feature, highlighted above.

What is AI Mode, Google's new artificial intelligence search technology?

Anne Marie D. Lee is an editor for CBS MoneyWatch. She writes about topics including personal finance, the workplace, travel and social media. Google on Tuesday rolled out AI Mode, its latest artificial intelligence feature designed to provide users with more detailed and tailored responses to questions entered into the search engine, the company said in an announcement yesterday. Unveiled at the search giant's annual Google I/O developer conference, AI Mode comes a year after the company introduced AI Overviews, its first tool to use generative AI technology to enhance its search engine capabilities. Sundar Pichai, CEO of both Google and its parent company, Alphabet, said in remarks at the conference that AI Mode represents a "total reimagining of Search" and that it would gradually become available to everyone in the U.S. starting Tuesday. "What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world," Pichai told the crowd yesterday at an amphitheater near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, according to the Associated Press. A video teasing the technology showcases how it works. In response to lengthy, detailed questions typed into Google search, AI Mode displays how many searches Google is performing and how many sites it's scanning as it instantaneously generates a summarized response at the top of the search platform. It also provides a side bar with links to relevant sites. Google said it's also testing a "Search Live" feature which will enable the search engine to respond to questions based on video content, as well as voice searches, or questions verbalized by the user, rather than typed. As an example, Google's teaser shows a person recording video of themselves holding a bridge made of Popsicle sticks while asking the search engine out loud what they can do to make it stronger. "To make it stronger, consider adding more triangles to the design," an automated voice responds. Google said it will begin feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search engine starting next week. The company calls Gemini 2.5, its "most intelligent model" yet. The California-based company began testing AI Mode in March of this year. Google's latest AI search tool builds on AI Overviews, which was introduced in the U.S. in May 2024 and has 1.5 billion users, according to an article on the Google website. Some argue that AI Overviews, which provides an AI-generated summary of information online, at times eliminating the need to click directly on source links for further information, has undercut traffic to their sites. According to a study by Ahrefs, AI Overviews led to a 35% lower average click-through rates for top-ranking pages on search engine results pages. "By making AI Mode a core part of the experience, Google is betting it can cater to the demand for AI without alienating its massive base," Gadjo Sevilla, a senior analyst for research firm eMarketer, wrote in a blog post. "But there are risks for hallucinations and factual errors which could drive users towards competitors," he added. Such factual errors were spotted with AI Overviews soon after its release, prompting Google to admit in a statement at the time, that the technology produced "some odd and erroneous overviews." In one instance, AI Overviews suggested that users add glue to pizza or eat at least one small rock a day, according to the MIT Technology Review. As for AI Mode, Google has indicated that its new AI search tech is performing well and serving its intended purpose. "We conduct quantitative research and collect in-product feedback to ask users whether they're satisfied with their results. And we've seen that introducing AI Overviews on Search leads to an increase in satisfaction and reported helpfulness," a Google spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.

How Google is rethinking search in an AI-filled world

Liz Reid: One of the exciting things with AI Mode is that while it's our cutting-edge AI search, it also provides a glimpse of what we think can be more broadly available. Our current belief is that we will take the things that work well in AI Mode and bring them right to the core of search and AI Overviews. We've started doing this with technology like query fan-out [in which the AI calls for a number of sources for information related to the user's search], so you can just ask whatever question you have right in the search box. When we think about the future of search, we consider a few different areas: AI could be the most powerful engine for discovery because the ability for you to specify what you want means we can connect you to that really interesting niche page or artist that has something different to say that you're interested in. We think it can end up transforming the web and people's ability to connect. LLM technology allows multimodality both in inputs and in outputs. Humans speak in different ways -- conversationally, looking at images, seeing things before us. This is how we like to talk, describe our needs, and understand. AI allows you to say how you would really like to consume this information and makes that possible.

Google's new AI Mode makes search more powerful -- and confusing

Googling things is about to get more complicated, thanks to artificial intelligence. A new AI Mode is coming to Google search, the company announced at its I/O conference Tuesday. When should you use it? This guide will help, though be warned Google has made it about as clear as mud. AI Mode responds to your searches with lengthy answers, instead of just links, saving you from having to do a lot of clicking. Like with ChatGPT, you can converse back and forth with AI Mode to go deeper. You activate AI Mode by clicking a little button on the upper-left side of your Google search results or by going directly to google.com/aimode. In the future, Google says you'll also be able to ask AI Mode to do a "deep search" through hundreds more sources, to personalize your results based on the contents of your Gmail and even to ask it to complete tasks such as ordering tickets. It's a lot to wrap your head around, considering Google became famous for making search simple. There are now at least three ways to Google: the new AI Mode, the old search box with its own AI answer summaries and a Google chatbot called Gemini with its own ability to crawl the web. Oh, and they just debuted a fourth way, too: an app that lets you walk around and point your phone's camera at something while talking with AI about it. They described it "like hopping on a video call with search." The good news: Some of these new AI-powered search tools might help us find stuff we couldn't before. I've used AI Mode in preview to do research that would have taken a long time on my own, and to answer harder questions. The bad news: Accuracy is still very much an issue and may not be solved anytime soon. During my tests, the new AI Mode still made up and missed out on key information in its answers. This is the basic Google.com built into browsers that people think of as a list of blue links to click. It actually hasn't been just links for about a decade -- for better and worse, they're filled with ads, snippet answers borrowed from other websites, images or maps. Use this for simple, fast searches, such as to find a website you can't remember. (PSA: Don't trust the ads for links to government, bank or customer service sites -- they are too often scams.) Since last year, this version of Googling has also sometimes included an element on top called AI Overviews. These are answer summaries written by AI that take a moment to generate. AI Overviews have a pretty mixed record of getting information correct -- and sometimes being weird -- but Google says they're getting more "factual" all the time. You cannot turn them off. AI Mode What it's for: Complex searches that require follow-up, longer answers or reasoning Watch out for: Slower responses, AI answers that are confidently wrong AI Mode is the new way to Google. It works a lot like a chatbot, writing out answers in full sentences and giving you the chance to follow up or change directions by chatting back. Behind the scenes, AI Mode splits your request into several simultaneous web searches, combining all the information to prepare its broader AI-generated answer. As with chatbots, all of this can take a moment to generate. Links to relevant sites appear to the right. Like regular Google search, AI Mode also has access to Google's proprietary information about places and products, which it can present in boxes with details such as photos, hours, reviews, prices and where to buy. AI Mode will also have ads, which Google is still experimenting with but promises to label clearly. AI Mode uses Google's sophisticated AI models, now with a version of Gemini 2.5, and in my experience offers more thorough answers than AI Overviews. But I've also noticed AI Mode can still confidently provide bad information. For example, I asked AI Mode what to order at a particular San Francisco restaurant. It wrote a bullet-point answer and told me to enjoy. But it failed to mention the restaurant had permanently closed -- a fact clearly marked in Google Maps. (When I tried the same query later, that time it knew the restaurant was closed.) AI experts tell me that even the latest AI tools can struggle with queries that involve recent information or that require it to judge which sources of information are the ones to trust. Google says it plans to eventually "graduate" some AI Mode features into the regular Search experience with AI Overviews. Gemini What it's for: Multiple-purpose assistance and help with complex searches Watch out for: AI answers that are wrong or overly confident Used by 400 million people each month and the most direct parallel to the ChatGPT experience, you can communicate with it by typing or talking out loud to the almost-human voice in its app. Gemini is designed to help with a wide set of things -- including writing, coding and summarizing. (It came in third out of five in my recent test of AI email-writing capabilities.) But the Gemini app is also increasingly a first stop for information, which it provides based on its existing knowledge and also by pulling in some information from the web. It can even provide external links to sources, though in my experience it offers fewer than AI Mode. Gemini doesn't have ads right now, but the company has said it has "very good ideas" for how it could add them in the future. Gemini offers its own extra-powerful search mode called Deep Research. You ask a detailed or difficult question, and it will take several minutes to crawl many, many sites and churn out a full research report. Just know that Gemini also can confidently get facts wrong, too. Like Gemini, AI Mode will get a button to activate Deep Research, which prompts it to conduct a lengthy search and produce a research report with citations. AI Mode will also offer an option to tailor its responses based on the content of other data you store with Google, such as your Gmail. The devil will be in the details for your privacy -- rival Meta AI recently integrated personal data into its AI in a way that I found creepy. Also coming to AI mode: an "agent" capability, which allows the AI to complete online tasks for you such as booking tickets, making restaurant reservations or booking appointments for local services. Again, the devil is in the details -- when I tested the similar agent capabilities from ChatGPT, it went off the rails and spent $31 on a dozen eggs. And AI Mode's flashiest coming attraction will be for smartphones or other devices with cameras, such as glasses. With a function called Search Live on top of an existing tool called Google Lens, you'll be able to point the camera at an object and have a back-and-forth voice conversation with the AI about it. Google calls it a "learning partner" that could be helpful in identifying objects, doing homework or providing advice. One fun example: Show it your bookshelf, and AI Mode will recommend other books you might like.

Google adding chatbot-like 'AI Mode' to search

Google is adding a new chatbot-like feature called "AI Mode" to its search engine amid a push to further incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into its products. "AI Mode" will appear as a new tab for Google search users starting Tuesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the company's annual developer conference. "For those who want an end-to-end AI search experience, we are introducing an all-new AI Mode," Pichai said. "It's a total reimagining of search." Much like other AI chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's AI Mode pulls together information to provide users with an answer to their query, rather than a list of links as in traditional search. It also allows users to pose follow-up questions. Starting this summer, AI Mode will start incorporating users' past queries into its responses, said Liz Reid, head of search. It will also eventually include deep research and agentic capabilities. The tech giant began adding AI features to its search engine last year with the introduction of AI overviews. Its newest feature appears largely geared at competing with AI chatbots. Google has underscored the competition that it faces from the likes of ChatGPT, Grok and DeepSeek as it seeks to keep the company intact in the face of the Department of Justice's push to break up the firm. The federal government has asked a judge to require Google to sell off its Chrome browser, after a ruling last August found the company had an illegal monopoly over online search. It has argued that Google's dominance in search will give it an unfair advantage in the AI race. The two sides made their case for proper remedies to the search decision in a three-week hearing in late April and early May. Pichai highlighted the competitive nature of the field of AI when he took the stand late last month. "I'm pleased with the progress [on AI], but we have a big gap between us and the market leader in this space," he said, referring to OpenAI, which he noted beat out Google for a deal with Apple.

AI Mode Finally Arrives for Google Search - Phandroid

It's that time of the year once again -- and no, we're not talking about Christmas -- Google's annual I/O Conference is finally live, and we've gotten a ton of new updates on its many AI projects, including a new "AI Mode" for Google's Search services. the company says that its AI Overviews have already increased Google Search usage by over 10% in key markets like the U.S. and India. Google says that it's designed AI Mode to use advanced reasoning and multimodality, allowing users to ask more complex questions and delve deeper with follow-up queries and helpful web links. This includes a "query fan-out" technique that breaks down down questions into subtopics while simultaneously issuing multiple searches to unearth highly relevant content. As expected, AI Mode runs on Google's Gemini models with a custom version of Gemini 2.5 for both AI Mode and AI Overviews in the U.S. For AI Mode with Labs, Google has included a number of other features as well: Google says that these new features will first be available to Labs users in AI Mode in the coming weeks and months, allowing for feedback before wider rollout. AI Mode rolls out today in the U.S. without requiring Labs sign-up.

Google Rolls Out 'AI Mode' to U.S. Search Users

Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google is bringing "AI mode" to all users in the U.S. starting today, a move CEO Sundar Pichai called a "total reimagining of search." AI mode integrates an AI chatbot tool into search. Google showcased the offering, now free for all users, at its I/O conference Tuesday. The tool allows users to converse within Google Search the way they would with AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT. AI mode will appear as a tab alongside news, images, and others, the company said. The addition builds on Google's existing AI Overview offering, which the company announced at last year's I/O event. AI Overview usage has climbed to 1.5 billion monthly users, Pichai said. 'VIP Pass for Google AI' Also Announced Google also announced a subscription service called Google AI Ultra, which the company called a "VIP pass for Google AI." AI Ultra, currently available to U.S. users for $249.99 per month, includes access to the new Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think mode for research and the AI filmmaking tool Flow, among other features. The company also expanded its $19.99 Google AI Pro plan to include "a full suite of AI products with higher rate limits and special features compared to the free version." Google's Gemini has seen a larger increase in usage between September and March than its primary competitors, Meta AI, and ChatGPT, according to research from Morgan Stanley. In March, about 40% of Morgan Stanley survey respondents said they used Gemini on a monthly basis, compared with ChatGPT's 41% and Meta AI's 39%. Shares of Alphabet slid about 1.5% in Tuesday trading. The stock is down about 13% in 2025 so far.

Google's unleashes 'AI Mode' in the next phase of its journey to change search

The next phase outlined at Google's annual developers conference includes releasing a new "AI mode" option in the United States. The feature makes interacting with Google's search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering questions on just about any topic imaginable.Google on Tuesday unleashed another wave of artificial intelligence technology to accelerate a year-long makeover of its search engine that is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of internet traffic to websites. The next phase outlined at Google's annual developers conference includes releasing a new "AI mode" option in the United States. The feature makes interacting with Google's search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering questions on just about any topic imaginable. AI mode is being offered to all comers in the U.S. just two-and-a-half-months after the company began testing with a limited Labs division audience. Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms and will soon begin testing other AI features, such as the ability to automatically buy concert tickets and conduct searches through live video feeds. In another example of Google's all-in approach to AI, the company revealed it is planning to leverage the technology to re-enter the smart glasses market with a new pair of Android XR-powered spectacles. The preview of the forthcoming device, which includes a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant, comes 13 years after the debut of "Google Glass," a product that the company scrapped after a public backlash over privacy concerns. Google didn't say when its Android XR glasses will be available or how much they will cost, but disclosed they will be designed in partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The glasses will compete against a similar product already on the market from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Ray-Ban. AI's big role in Google search The expansion builds upon a transformation that Google began a year ago with the introduction of conversational summaries called "AI overviews" that have been increasingly appearing at the top of its results page and eclipsing its traditional rankings of web links. About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with "AI overviews," according to Google, and most users are now entering longer and more complex queries. "What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said before a packed crowd in an amphitheater near the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters. AI ripples across the internet Although Pichai and other Google executives predicted AI overviews would trigger more searches and ultimately more clicks to other sites, it hasn't worked out that way so far, according to the findings of search optimization firm BrightEdge. Clickthrough rates from Google's search results have declined by nearly 30% during the past year, according to BrightEdge's recently released study, which attributed the decrease to people becoming increasingly satisfied with AI overviews. The decision to make AI mode broadly available after a relatively short test period reflects Google's confidence that the technology won't habitually spew misinformation that tarnishes its brand's reputation, and acknowledges the growing competition from other AI-powered search options from the likes of ChatGPT and Perplexity. Will AI undercut or empower Google? The rapid rise of AI alternatives emerged as a recurring theme in legal proceedings that could force Google to dismantle parts of its internet empire after a federal judge last year declared its search engine to be an illegal monopoly. In testimony during a trial earlier this month, longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue said Google searches done through the iPhone maker's Safari browser have been declining because more people are leaning on AI-powered alternatives. And Google has cited the upheaval being caused by AI's rise as one of the main reasons that it should only be required to make relatively minor changes to the way it operates its search engine because technology already is changing the competitive landscape. But Google's reliance on more AI so far appears to be enabling its search engine to maintain its mantle as the internet's main gateway - a position that's main reason its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., boasts a market value of $2 trillion. During the year ending in March, Google received 136 billion monthly visits, 34 times more than ChatGPT's average of 4 billion monthly visits, according to data compiled by onelittleweb.com. Even Google's own AI mode acknowledged that the company's search engine seems unlikely to be significantly hurt by the shift to AI technology when a reporter from The Associated Press asked whether its introduction would make the company even more powerful. "Yes, it is highly likely that Google's AI mode will make Google more powerful, particularly in the realm of information access and online influence," the AI mode responded. The feature also warns that web publishers should be concerned about AI mode reducing the traffic they get from search results. Even more AI waiting in the wings Google's upcoming tests in its Labs division foreshadow the next wave of AI technology likely to be made available to the masses. Besides using its Project Mariner technology to test the ability of an AI agent to buy tickets and book restaurant reservations, Google will also experiment with searches done through live video and an opt-in option to give its AI technology access to people's Gmail and other Google apps so it can learn more about a user's tastes and habits. Other features on this summer's test list include a "Deep Search" option that will use AI to dig even deeper into complex topics and another tool that will produce graphical presentations of sports and finance data. Google is also introducing its equivalent of a VIP pass to all its AI technology with an "Ultra" subscription package that will cost $250 per month and include 30 terabytes of storage, too. That's a big step beyond Google's previous top-of-the-line package, which is now called "AI "Pro," that costs $20 per month and includes two terabytes of storage.

Pichai sees platform shift as AI brings tech research to life

Sundar Pichai says AI is driving growth. Google is launching AI mode for search in the US. The company is investing heavily in AI data centers. Google is integrating AI across its products. The Gemini app has over 400 million users. AI overviews in search has more than 1.5 billion users.Artificial intelligence has brought about a significant platform shift, allowing people, businesses and communities all over the world to access decades of research, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, has said. Google is shipping products faster across frontier AI models, products and features, Pichai told global media persons prior to Google I/O annual developer conference, of which ET was a part, late on Monday. "In our biggest markets, like the US and India, AI overviews are driving over 10% growth in the types of queries that show them. And what's particularly exciting is how this growth increases over time. It's one of the most successful launches in search in the past decade," he said. On Tuesday, Google is rolling out AI mode for search in the US, with advanced reasoning capabilities to answer longer and complex queries. The search giant has been betting big on AI in the last couple of years. It recently announced a $75-billion investment for an AI data centre. It is now doubling down on its effort by integrating AI across its products and services. With the new launches, the AI race is heating up between Google, Microsoft and OpenAI as they compete with their new AI coding agents, data centre capabilities, and newer AI models that can handle multimodal data such as audio and video. Pichai told media persons that the Gemini app now has over 400 million monthly active users and the AI overviews in search has more than 1.5 billion users, which is currently available in select countries like the US. The firm will be expanding it and making it available in more than 200 countries and territories, he added. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind Technologies, said during the call that an updated version of Gemini 2.5 Flash will be available from June.

Google's New AI Mode in Search was Inevitable

At the Google I/O 2025, Google announced a new revolutionary way for the users to get information from the search bar. The search bar, while already infused with AI (artificial intelligence) for results, has now been upgraded with a deeper integration of Gemini. Google's Gemini 2.5 is powering the search results for the users. From now onwards, users will have the option to search their queries in the AI Mode. The AI Mode was inevitable. Especially after companies like OpenAI that offers ChatGPT and Perplexity offered users a more convenient way to search for information. Read More - OnePlus 13 has This Amazing Feature That I LOVE Google's deep ecosystem of knowledge as well as the suite of apps such as Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, and more, will help users in enricing their search experience and using the G-Suite of apps on the go. The new AI Mode will provide users with the ability to search with longer sentences in natural language. Google has enabled the AI Mode to offer users the ability to create custom charts, advanced reasoning to solve problems, and agentic tasks like ticket buying. AI Mode is the natural next step for Google, and will definitely be an interesting tool for the users to play with. Read More - Nothing Phone (3) Launch Month Confirmed At the Google I/O 2025, there were more major announcements by the search engine giant. Google announced the new upgraded Gemini models including the Gemini 2.5 Pro and a newer flash model. Google's Project Astra was one of the most interesting follow ups in this year's developer conference. While Project Astra had been announced previously, Google gave the world a deeper look into its capabilities this time. It will be interesting to see when the Project Astra finally becomes a common tool in an average person's life.

Google Search Now Helps You Do More With AI Mode

For users seeking deep analysis, Deep Search extends AI Mode's reasoning capabilities. It can conduct hundreds of micro-queries and synthesize them into a fully-cited, expert-level report within minutes -- compressing hours of research into moments. 2. Search Live: Real-Time Visual Interaction Integrating Project Astra, Search Live allows users to interact with Search using their smartphone camera in real time. Whether you're troubleshooting a DIY project or exploring a new place, simply point your camera and converse with Search about what you see. It's like having an AI-powered learning companion in your pocket. 3. Agentic Capabilities: AI That Gets Things Done With the integration of Project Mariner, AI Mode evolves into an active agent. Ask it to "find two affordable lower-level tickets for Saturday's Reds game," and it not only finds the best options but also navigates real-time prices, availability, and even starts filling out forms -- putting you in control while doing the heavy lifting. It's starting with events, reservations, and local appointments in partnership with platforms like Ticketmaster, Resy, StubHub, and Vagaro. 4. Smart Shopping: A Personalized AI Shopping Assistant AI Mode now includes a visual, conversational shopping assistant. With Google's Shopping Graph and Gemini's reasoning power, users can try on outfits virtually, weigh product options, and even delegate checkout to AI using Google Pay -- waiting for the perfect price while remaining fully in charge. 5. Personal Context: Tailored Like Never Before Soon, users can connect AI Mode to personal data sources like Gmail, allowing it to personalize results based on trip plans, past preferences, or previous searches. For example, if you're planning a food-focused weekend in Nashville with friends, Search can suggest events and restaurants nearby based on your travel details and dining history -- all transparently and under user control. 6. Data Visualization: Interactive Graphs and Insights Whether you're comparing sports statistics or analyzing financial trends, AI Mode can generate custom charts and graphs on demand. With access to real-time datasets, it helps users see the bigger picture at a glance. A Vision for the Future of Search Google's vision is clear: Search is no longer just a tool to find information -- it's becoming a true AI agent. AI Mode is the testbed for this future. Features trialed here will eventually find their way into core Search, guided by user feedback and evolving needs.

Google Begins Adding AI Mode to Search Experience in US | PYMNTS.com

AI Mode will appear in a new tab in Search and in the search bar in the Google app, according to a Tuesday blog post. The company began testing AI Mode, which is its most powerful AI search, after rolling out AI Overviews last year and hearing from users that they want an end-to-end AI Search experience, according to the post. "AI in Search is making it easier to ask Google anything and get a helpful response, with links to the web," Google Vice President and Head of Search Elizabeth Reid wrote in the post. "That's why AI Overviews is one of the most successful launches in Search in the past decade. As people use AI Overviews, we see they're happier with their results, and they search more often." AI Mode dives deeper into the web than traditional searches on Google and delivers more relevant content, according to the post. Over time, the company will incorporate more of AI Mode's features and capabilities into the core Search experience. When Google announced the beginning of its test of AI Mode in March, the company said this search experience brings the user into an AI chatbot-like conversation but adds real-time search information, shopping and other sources of information. The general availability of AI Mode in the U.S. came as investors in Google and Apple are reportedly uneasy about the growing popularity of AI search offered by tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Google also announced in the Tuesday blog post that it is working on several new capabilities for AI Mode that will be launched first in Google Labs. These include a Deep Search that will issue hundreds of searches and create a report within minutes; Search Live that will answer questions about what is seen through the user's camera; agentic capabilities that will help find and purchase products, beginning with event tickets, restaurant reservations and local appointments; a shopping experience that will let users virtually try on apparel by loading an image of themselves; and personalized suggestions based on the user's past searches, per the post.

Google AI Mode in Search: How It Changes Online Shopping

Google has introduced AI Mode in Search, expanding on the AI Overviews launched at Google I/O 2024. Core features of AI Mode include Agentic AI and an AI-powered shopping tool, as revealed at the I/O 2025 conference. With these announcements, Google is venturing into AI agents capable of making autonomous decisions based on user instructions -- including completing the checkout process on the user's behalf. The expansion of AI Overviews marks a significant shift from keyword-based traditional search engines to conversational, generative AI experiences. These developments raise critical questions about business ownership, consumer data, and the future of digital advertising. AI Mode uses a query fan-out technique, commonly found in database search systems, to enhance scalability and search performance. This means a single user query is broken down into multiple sub-queries that are processed across different sources and databases. The final output is a consolidated response, complete with Wikipedia-style citations referencing the sources used. Google has also integrated Gemini 2.5, into both AI Mode and AI Overviews. Since the debut of WebCrawler in 1994, search engine results pages (SERPs) have been keyword-driven. SEO has long been essential for websites aiming to rank higher. However, generative AI tools like AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, and ChatGPT operate differently. They read and summarize the content they process, changing how users engage with online information. Recent data reveals the impact: "If you put content and links within AI Overviews, they get higher clickthrough rates than if you put it outside of AI Overviews." - Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google. Google will also introduce ads into AI Mode, placing sponsored content within AI Overviews. However, it remains unclear how Google will help users differentiate between organic and sponsored content. With visual try-ons and agentic checkout, Google's AI Mode could redefine e-commerce. Notably: Google says it hosts over 50 billion product listings, from global retailers to small businesses. However, Sunil Nair, Co-Founder and COO at Mela Platforms, urged brands to build customer desire and ownership rather than focusing solely on SEO optimization of their websites. "If you are not Nike, Apple, or Glossier, you are one algorithm tweak away from irrelevance," he warned, referring to the advantages the legacy brands will have over small-scale businesses. Through this feature, the point of sale will be shifted from the original business website to Google's platform which is powered by autonomous AI agents. This raises several critical questions. Generative AI-powered agentic search engines are no longer future-tech; they are reality as we read this. Perplexity's agentic browser, Comet, is available to selected users. Google's AI agentic search will roll out soon. OpenAI's Codex is already live. The agentic industry is just destined to grow. As agentic AIs become more autonomous and less dependent on human intervention, except for guidance and oversight, the key challenges remain: At the core lies a critical design question: Are generative AIs being built to encourage users to explore cited sources and conduct independent research -- or are they optimized to keep users engaged longer within a closed-loop interface?

Is Google's AI Mode Changing Search or Just Rebranding It?

Search Like Never Before: Google AI Mode Uses Context and Multimodal Input for Human-Like Help Google designates the AI Mode at I/O 2025 as a great change. Not just a superficial modification, it is a total metamorphosis of the search machinery itself. It is more than a simple upgrade of the search service; integrating advanced AI capabilities, Google is seeking to change the way users interact with information online. The creation of the AI Mode is Google's answer to the contemporary changes in the digital environment, where people want a more intuitive and conversational interaction. In this way, Google will be set to compete with emerging AI-driven platforms.

Google pushes AI search, subscriptions at annual conference

STORY: Google is doubling down on AI-powered search. The tech giant said Tuesday that its latest system would allow users to ask almost anything, from simple queries to the most complex research questions. Sundar Pichai - the boss of parent firm Alphabet - set out the new AI Mode at the tech giant's annual conference in California: "Users have been asking much longer queries, two to three times the length of traditional searches, and you can go further with follow up questions. All of this is available today as a new tab right in search." The new search mode is powered by Google's Gemini AI model. Over time, its abilities will be integrated into the regular search box. Tuesday also saw the demonstration of other products, including smart glasses. They also feature AI integration, and claim to offer simultaneous translation between languages. Google also launched a subscription option priced at just under $250 per month. It offers users higher limits on AI usage and early access to experimental tools, including a browser extension dubbed Project Mariner: "It's an agent that can interact with the web and get stuff done. Stepping back, we think of agents as assistants that combine the intelligence of advanced AI models with access to tools. They can take actions on your behalf and under your control... And we are starting to bring agentic capabilities to Chrome, search, and the Gemini app." All the activity comes as Google feels the pressure to stay ahead of rivals like OpenAI. The ChatGPT maker is among firms offering their own take on AI search, potentially threatening Google's core business.