For more than two decades, Google's search engine has been the main gateway to the internet, but at the Google I/O developers conference, the company made it clear that it no longer views it as just a search engine. As far as it is concerned, the future belongs to an AI assistant that understands context, conducts a conversation, performs tasks, and acts on behalf of the user even when they are not in front of the screen.
At the center of the announcement stands the biggest upgrade to the search box since it was launched more than 25 years ago. Google is gradually replacing the classic search model – a few words and blue links – with an interface based on Gemini 3.5 Flash, the company's new artificial intelligence model. According to Google, AI Mode has already crossed the threshold of one billion monthly users, and the company claims that the number of queries in this mode has more than doubled every quarter since the launch.
The most prominent change is a new and dynamic search box, which allows users to phrase more complex questions and receive smart suggestions in real time. Instead of settling for text, users will be able to upload files, photos, videos, and even use open tabs in Chrome as part of the search. Concurrently, Google is expanding the integration of AI overviews and allowing users to continue asking follow–up questions while fully maintaining the context – both on mobile and on desktop.
But behind the new user experience hides a deeper change: Fewer visits to websites and more direct answers within Google itself. Instead of clicking on links, the user receives an immediate summary that relies on information from content sites across the web. Google claims that the system will assist websites in reaching new audiences, but for many news sites, blogs, and advertisers, this poses a real threat to the organic traffic on which the industry has lived for years.
The next stage for Google is "search agents" – Agents that operate in the background and perform continuous tasks. The user could, for example, instruct the agent to search for an apartment according to precise requirements, track price drops of products, or receive an alert the moment a beloved athlete launches a new collaboration. The agent will scan the web continuously, analyze information from various sources, and send a summarized update when something relevant happens.
Google is also expanding the autonomous capabilities of Search into more practical worlds, such as booking services and local businesses. Users will be able to ask the system to find an available karaoke room, a home repair service, or a treatment for a pet, where in certain cases Google will even make phone calls to businesses on behalf of the user.
In addition, the company is also introducing "agentic code" capabilities into Search based on Project Antigravity. The meaning is: The search engine will be able to build personalized user interfaces in real time – Graphs, simulations, tables, and even mini–apps for continuous tasks such as managing an apartment move or building a personal fitness plan.
Alongside all of this, Google continues to deepen the connection to the personal information of the users as well. The Personal Intelligence service will be expanded to about 200 countries and will support a connection to Gmail, Google Photos, and later also to Google Calendar, in order to provide answers that are based not only on information from the web – But also on the personal context of each user.