 "How Google is changing the way you google")
Google is changing the way we use its search engine. The tech giant on Tuesday (May 20) launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) Mode that combines its chatbot capabilities with its search engine in the United States.
The AI mode enables Google’s users to ask more complex queries and interact with its search engine as if they are having a conversation with an expert. The tool was announced at Google’s annual developers conference in Mountain View, California, as the tech giant tackles growing competition from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other AI services.
Here’s a look at how Google is reforming its Search.
Google unveils AI Mode
Google has introduced AI Mode for all users in the US. With this, the company has embedded a custom version of its Gemini 2.5 into its search engine.
Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google’s parent Alphabet, said the move signals a “new phase of the AI platform shift”. “With more advanced reasoning, you can ask AI both longer and more complex queries,” he said at Google’s annual I/O developer conference on Tuesday.
“AI Mode is where we’ll first bring Gemini ’s frontier capabilities, and it’s also a glimpse of what’s to come,” Elizabeth Reid, vice president and head of Google Search, said in a blog post.
The AI Mode is different from a regular Google Search as it allows users to ask follow-up questions and find hyper-relevant content that matches their query, the company says.
It will use the query fan-out method, where AI will divide the search query into subtopics and raise further search queries on the user’s behalf, according to the Indian Express report.
The AI Mode will also assist people in shopping by showing them products and product details in an easy-to-browse panel, with a digital try-on feature, AI agent-driven price tracking and so on.
A “deep search” option will empower AI to go deeper into complex topics. AI Mode will also be able to create graphical presentations of sports and finance data and analyse datasets.
Search Live will let users have a chat with the AI chatbot about what is visible on their phone or through their phone’s camera, as per the newspaper.
If users want to book tickets or restaurant reservations, an AI agent can also scan various sites and provide multiple options.
Google has rolled out AI Mode just two-and-a-half months after the tech giant began testing with a limited Labs division audience.
AI Mode also has an option that empowers it to draw information from other connected Google apps like Gmail, so it can learn more about the user’s preferences.
AI Mode faces flak
News and media publishers have objected to Google’s new AI Mode, calling it “theft”.
The News/Media Alliance, which represents around 2,000 publishers in the US, issued a strong rebuke of the launch of the new AI tool. Danielle Coffey, the group’s president and CEO, said, “Links were the last redeeming quality of search that gave publishers traffic and revenue. Now Google just takes content by force and uses it with no return, the definition of theft.”
The group also urged US regulators, especially the Department of Justice (DoJ), to intervene.
It mentioned Google’s dominance over online information, which the group said was largely unchecked, adding that the new AI Mode further harms the already weakened relationship between publishers and the tech company. “The DoJ remedies must address this to prevent continued domination of the internet by one company,” Coffey added.
It’s raining AI at Google
Google is returning with smart glasses, over a decade after it launched Google Glass — which was later scrapped due to public outcry over privacy concerns.
The US company demoed its Android XR-powered spectacles on Tuesday. They are equipped with a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant, as per BBC.
The new Google glasses are being designed in collaboration with eyeglass retailers Warby Parker and Gentle Monster.
The tech giant showcases its AI model called Veo 3 that generates video and audio to create more realistic movie clips.
Google also announced an “AI Ultra Plan,” priced at $249.99 (Rs 21,491) monthly, which will provide access to all its AI technology and also includes 30 terabytes of storage.
The US company’s increasing reliance on AI comes at a time when it is facing a potential dismantling of its search business after a district court ruled last year that Google had an illegal monopoly of the online search market.
With inputs from agencies
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