Alphabet Inc.’s Google has rolled out AI Mode across the search engine for all U.S. users. The announcement was made at the company’s Mountain View, California, developer conference.
AI Mode marks a major shift in how the tech firm envisions the future of search. Rather than simply entering questions and receiving a list of links, users can now directly converse with an AI — similar to interactions with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Liz Reid, head of Google Search, described the update as a transformative moment, saying it allows users to “ask anything” and makes initiating a search feel effortless.
AI Mode appears as a new tab. Users can enter complex queries, ask follow-up questions, and receive detailed, conversational responses. This is part of the company’s efforts to get ahead in a world where AI chatbots are increasingly used to find information.
As the tech company advances further into what DeepMind leader Demis Hassabis describes as “personal, proactive and powerful” AI, it updates tools such as Deep Research. This AI assistant leverages web search and browsing to collect information and generate customized reports.
On Tuesday, the IT corporation announced it will enable users to combine public content with personal documents to create more focused and tailored reports.
Google moves fast to beat rivals
The chief executive, Sundar Pichai, stressed the importance of speed, saying that they would like to get their best models into users’ hands and were probably shipping faster than ever.
Pichai also noted that there already have been more than 400 million downloads of the Gemini AI app. He added that AI Overviews, which pop up at the top of search results, now cater to more than 1.5 billion users.
But competition is fierce. And companies like OpenAI and Perplexity are making inroads with AI-driven search tools. Google Search inside Safari is also down, even for Apple. A federal judge continues to consider remedies after determining that the IT corporation had an illegal monopoly in the search market.
Competition is intense, with companies like OpenAI and Perplexity gaining ground through AI-powered search tools. Even Apple’s Safari browser is experiencing issues with Google Search. Meanwhile, a federal judge is reviewing potential remedies after ruling that the tech company holds an illegal monopoly in the search market.
Yet the company has one powerful advantage: its reach. It dominates about 90% of the world’s search market. Pichai said that Google Search is introducing generative AI to more people than any other product.
Google pushes new AI tools across products
Alongside AI Mode, Google is rolling out several other AI tools and updates. The company will launch Gemini 2.5 Flash this summer, a speedier version of its core AI model. It also tests Deep Think, a model that is supposed to excel at reasoning and writing code.
Gemini AI is coming soon to Google Chrome, Search, and its mobile app as a personal assistant. It will assist users in summarizing websites, navigating between their tabs, and interacting directly with each page.
The company is also developing Project Mariner, a tool that compares internet options — sort of like hunting for the cheapest concert tickets online.
For creators, the tech company introduced a platform for AI filmmaking, Flow. It allows users to type scripts in natural language and design video scenes. The company also demoed Veo 3, a new model that records videos with realistic sound and dialogue.
To combat misuse, the tech firm is also bolstering the underlying watermarking tech known as SynthID. The SynthID Detector tool will let users upload files and see if AI generated them.
Yet investors greeted these big reveals with something closer to tepid enthusiasm. Shares in Alphabet fell by almost 2% after the announcement.
The challenge facing Google is clear, as analysts point out it must catch up with OpenAI’s rising popularity while keeping its massive search business relevant. Arvind Jain, a former Google engineer and now a startup CEO, said this is the first time there is credible competition.
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