Google has launched a groundbreaking AI-powered search mode that promises smarter and deeper results, signaling a pivotal shift in how users will interact with its core product. Announced at its annual developer conference, the new mode leverages generative artificial intelligence to handle more complex queries and support follow-up questions, setting a new standard for web search.
CEO Sundar Pichai called the upgrade a culmination of “decades of research,” emphasizing that the reimagined search experience goes beyond the AI Overviews feature already used by over 1.5 billion people worldwide. The AI mode, now available in the U.S., can interpret long and detailed queries, offering more nuanced, multimodal responses by analyzing broader content across the web.
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Liz Reid, Google’s head of search, said the feature represents a leap forward in interactivity and depth, allowing users to explore topics in a way that traditional search could not. However, the innovation arrives amid intensifying competition from AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is rapidly gaining popularity due to its built-in web search capabilities.
Despite its technological promise, the shift away from conventional “blue links” has triggered concern among publishers and advertisers. Critics warn that AI-generated summaries may reduce ad visibility and click-through rates, posing financial risks for content creators and threatening Google’s ad-driven revenue model.
Further complicating matters, Apple executive Eddy Cue revealed in a federal antitrust trial that Google’s dominance in search is slipping, with traffic from Apple devices seeing a decline for the first time in two decades. The outcome of this trial could lead to a court-ordered breakup of Google’s search operations.
