AI Mode levels up with new AI features, stealing Google Search's spotlight

What you need to know

• AI Mode is set to gain multiple features making it a seamless platform that allows you to research, shop and do more all at once.
• Google Search is gaining Project Astra's live capabilities allowing users to talk to Gemini while looking things up.
• Google is bringing Project Mariner's Agentic capabilities to AI Mode, making it easier for users to ask complex questions like booking tickets to a sports event.
• Shopping and search results to become more personalized with AI Mode.

AI Mode and Google Search seem to be levelling up. Google announced today at I/O that it will be integrating a custom version of Gemini's 2.5 model into Search for both AI Mode and AI Overviews.

This means that users can start asking Gemini more complex queries tailored to their needs. Google also states that AI Mode will be the sole platform to get a front-seat access to all the new AI-powered features that will be rolled out starting this week.

Google Search gets Project Astra

Google announced today that it's pushing the limits of live, real-time search and bringing Project Astra's multimodal capabilities to Google Search. You can talk back and forth with Gemini about what you're looking at through your device's camera.

For example, if you're feeling stumped on a project and need some help, simply tap the "Live" icon in Al Mode or in Lens, point your camera, and ask your question. "Just like that, Search becomes a learning partner that can see what you see — explaining tricky concepts and offering suggestions along the way, as well as links to different resources that you can explore — like websites, videos, forums, and more," Google added.

Google showed off Project Astra's capabilities at I/O last year, asking Gemini to give the user a creative iteration of crayons on the table.

Now, AI Mode is set to get a new Deep Search feature, which will give users a more thorough and thought-out response to their queries. This is particularly handy when users have to look up multiple websites while writing a research paper or simply want to gain knowledge about a certain topic.

Google stated in its press release that Deep Search collates data from "hundreds of websites," and it has the power to connect and draw conclusions from information that comes from different, unrelated sources or contexts to give users an "expert-level fully-cited report. "

This can significantly shorten the time users spend manually looking up various search results and comparing information. Google added that they will be working with StubHub, TicketMaster, and Resy to create a "seamless and helpful" experience for users.

Furthermore, AI Mode is gaining Project Mariner's agentic capabilities, an AI agent that was initially built on Gemini 2.0. It can "understand" and process all the elements in a website, from images, text, code, and even pixels.

The AI agent developed by Google DeepMind has the ability to perform tasks that usually need human intervention, like adding things to the cart, creating travel itineraries, filling out forms, etc.

Google says that AI Mode will be integrated with these capabilities, which will help save users' time. For instance, you can ask AI Mode to find you two tickets for a soccer game on Saturday, with your preferred seats, and it will present you with multiple websites that match your exact needs.

AI Mode is also gaining capabilities to integrate with other Google apps on your device, allowing for a more personalized search experience. For instance, you can ask AI mode to look up "things to go in Toronto this weekend with friends who are Harry Potter fans and big foodies."

AI Mode may show you results of Harry Potter-themed cafes or parties that you can go to, with hotel recommendations, tickets, and more. This feature within AI Mode can be adjusted in Search's personalization settings.

Shopping with AI Mode

Lastly, Google is bringing a more seamless online shopping experience with AI Mode.

"It brings Gemini model capabilities with our Shopping Graph to help you browse for inspiration, think through considerations, and narrow down products," Google explained.

For instance, if you tell Al Mode you're looking for a cute travel bag. It understands that you're looking for visual inspiration, and so it will show you a browsable panel of images and product listings personalized to your tastes.

Users can even try out outfits virtually by just uploading a single picture of themselves and adding the items to the cart, once they've picked the perfect outfit. AI Mode will help you buy the said item at your desired price.

Just tap "track price" on any product listing and set the right size, color (or whatever options you prefer), and the amount you want to spend. Keep an eye out for a price drop notification and, if you're ready to buy, just confirm the purchase details and tap "buy for me".

Behind the scenes, AI Mode will add the item to your cart on the merchant's site and securely complete the checkout on your behalf, with the help of Google Pay, obviously with the user's supervision.

The virtual "try on" experiment is rolling out in Search Labs for U.S. users starting today. And AI Mode will be rolling out to everyone in the U.S. today as well, and the new features will slowly begin rolling out to Lab Users in the coming weeks.