By Kashmira Konduparty
Google unveiled what it called the “biggest upgrade” to Search in more than 25 years at it’s I/O 2026 developer conference on Tuesday. This replaces the familiar search experience with an AI-powered system driven by Gemini 3.5 Flash. This is aimed to transform Search into a more conversational experience.
The update expands the role of the company’s Gemini artificial intelligence models across Search and introduces new “Search agents” that can monitor tasks and perform actions for users. Google’s Vice President of Search Elizabeth Reid said, “We’re also introducing a new, intelligent AI-powered Search box, marking its biggest upgrade in over 25 years,” via a company blog post.
The redesigned Search experience allows users to ask longer and more detailed questions instead of relying on short keywords. Google said the system can now process text, images, files, videos and even browser tabs through Gemini 3.5 Flash, which is becoming the default model powering AI Mode globally.
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The company said AI-powered suggestions will move beyond traditional autocomplete to help users better formulate questions and receive more contextual answers. Google also introduced “Search agents,” which are AI systems that are designed to continuously monitor information online for users. The agents can track apartment listings, shopping deals, sports updates and other personalized searches in the background and send updates when relevant information appears.
“We’re entering the era of Search agents,” Google said during the announcement.
Another feature, called “agentic booking,” will allow users to compare prices, check availability and complete booking directly through Search. In some cases, Google said the AI may even contact businesses on behalf of the users.
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The company also demonstrated AI-generated dashboards and mini apps that can be created inside Search for tasks such as wedding planning, fitness tracking and moving preparation. Google CEO Sundar Pichai described the AI Mode as “our biggest upgrade to Search ever,” as the company faces growing competition from AI firms such as OpenAI and AI-powered search startups like Perplexity AI.
The update also raised concerns among publishers and analysts who fear AI-generated answers could reduce traffic to websites by keeping users inside Google’s ecosystem rather than directing them to external links. Google has attempted to address those concerns, saying traditional web results will continue to appear alongside AI-generated responses. “This new search box does not mean that you’ll only get AI responses,” the company said.
The redesign signals Google’s push to turn Search from a tool that finds websites into one that acts more like a personal AI assistant.