Google Search is changing into much more of a showpiece for its AI ambitions. At present at Google I/O 2026, the corporate introduced that Search has been upgraded to the Gemini 3.5 Flash mannequin, which it says gives quicker inferencing, smarter outcomes and the power to course of several types of media. In consequence, Google can be launching a brand new Clever Search Field that may dynamically get bigger to suit advanced queries, in addition to use movies, pictures, recordsdata and even Chrome tabs as inputs. None of it is a shock, although.
Over the previous 12 months, we have seen Google slowly upgrade the AI mode in Search — now, the corporate is simply making an AI a extra important a part of looking out the online. That is excellent news for customers who just like the extra conversational capabilities of Google’s AI, nevertheless it’s even worse information for the people who find themselves attempting to keep up the easy purity of Google’s unique search engine. There is no phrase on if you’ll flip off any of the brand new AI options — it was already robust to eliminate earlier AI search capabilities.
The brand new Google Search options, which the corporate says are its greatest modifications to the search field in 25 years, can be found to make use of as we speak. “It is extra intuitive than ever, dynamically increasing to present you house to explain precisely what you want,” Liz Reid, Google’s head of Search, stated in a blog post. “Designed to anticipate your intent, it additionally helps you formulate your query with AI-powered options that transcend autocomplete.”
As you’d anticipate, your AI queries will not be as ephemeral as old style search prompts. The corporate says you’ll proceed asking questions after your preliminary prompts, and that doing so ought to result in extra refined outcomes. We’ll must take a better have a look at Google’s revamped Search to see if the corporate’s claims are true, however at first look, it sounds prefer it might be a sensible strategy to entice customers to spend extra time with the its AI instruments.That is precisely what Google needs, in fact.
For its paying Gemini Professional and Extremely customers, the corporate additionally plans to launch a slew of recent agentic capabilities this summer season. Like different agentic AI options, these are supposed to run on their very own after preliminary prompting. Upcoming data brokers, for instance, ought to be capable of scour the online for particular flats after you’ve got informed Search what you are in search of. The brokers will be capable of view “the whole lot” on the internet, in line with Reid, together with “blogs, information websites and social posts, plus our freshest information, reminiscent of real-time data on finance, purchasing and sports activities.”
In a means, the brand new agentic Search feels like a souped-up model of Google Alerts, which has been one of many best methods to maintain observe of key phrases popping up on the internet for the previous 20 years. The large distinction now’s that you just’re in search of extra advanced data than a mere textual content string, and Google’s AI ought to be capable of format its findings in additional helpful methods.
Free customers will get a handful of agentic updates in the summertime, as properly, together with the power to ebook “native experiences and providers.” The corporate claims you’ll seek for one thing like a karaoke room, discover correct pricing and full your reserving. You too can have Google name sure companies for appointments, just like the Duplex AI feature that launched with Google Assistant again in 2018. Let’s simply hope it is much less jarring — Duplex AI sounded far too robotic, and it might be complicated to native enterprise homeowners who don’t know why a Google robotic is looking them.
The corporate additionally plans to deliver its agentic coding app, Antigravity, into Search this summer season. You’ll have Antigravity construct generative UI parts to reply questions, like understanding how your watch works, in line with Google. Much more intriguing, the corporate claims you need to use Antigravity to construct “mini apps” inside Search, which may do one thing like construct a customized health tracker only for you. That characteristic will initially head to Google AI Professional and Extremely customers within the US “within the coming months.
Clearly, the purpose for Google is to show Search into extra of a centerpiece of your life, as a substitute of simply being a factor you employ briefly to seek out different web sites. We have already seen this in motion with present AI summaries, which recap data with out even needing to go to one other web site. Once more, I have not examined any of the brand new Search options, so I can not fairly decide in the event that they reside as much as Google’s expectations. However bringing Antigravity into Search might be a straightforward strategy to make customers accustomed to the concept of generative coding. It will not be for everybody, however I may see energy customers leaning into it.
The corporate says it is also increasing its Personal Intelligence in AI Mode to just about 200 international locations and 98 languages, with out the necessity for a subscription. The characteristic permits you to join Gemini to your Gmail, Images and Calendar data, with the purpose of delivering extra correct outcomes. The corporate stresses that “you are all the time in management” of those options, since you may particularly select to attach your accounts. However given how a lot Google needs to take the lead in shopper AI, I would not be shocked if the corporate begins opting in your entire accounts by default.
