Google Search is getting its biggest changes ever

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. Tech TechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Tech AI AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All AI News NewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All NewsGoogle Search is getting its biggest changes everA reimagined search bar, AI information agents, and built-in widgets are part of a new future of Search. A reimagined search bar, AI information agents, and built-in widgets are part of a new future of Search. by Emma Roth Emma RothNews WriterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Technical Details

FollowSee All by Emma RothMay 19, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC Image: GooglePart OfGoogle I/O 2026: All the news and announcementssee all updates Emma Roth Emma RothPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Google Search is entering the next phase of its AI evolution. During Google I/O 2026, the company showed off a reimagined search box that makes it easier to flow between AI Overviews, the AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results, and AI Mode, Google’s chatbot-like search experience. Powered by the new Gemini 3.

5 Flash model, Google’s updated search box expands for longer queries, while offering a new AI-powered autocomplete feature to build on your question. Robby Stein, Google’s vice president of product for Search, told The Verge you’ll “reliably” see AI Overviews if you ask a natural-language question. Asking follow-up questions in an AI Overview will redirect you to AI Mode, but you can just jump straight into AI Mode by attaching documents, photos, videos, and Chrome tabs to the search box and entering a question.

Industry Implications

Liz Reid, Google’s vice president of Search, said during a briefing that the company wanted to eliminate the “friction” between AI Overviews and AI Mode. “We really work to make that much more seamless and simplified, so that for most users, they don’t have to think about where to go, they can just go to the search box they’re familiar with and it feels like they get the best experience afterwards,” Reid said. The updated search box is rolling out across desktop and mobile devices globally starting on Tuesday.

You can still view traditional results only by selecting the “Web” tab in Google Search. Google is also moving toward a future where it does the googling for you. This summer, it will roll out new AI information agents for AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers that can monitor topics when you’re not online.

If you want to keep track of when your favorite band is going on tour, for example, Google’s AI agents can look for upcoming shows in the background and then notify you of an update.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.