Google launches Gemini Spark 24/7 agent in major Gemini app overhaul

TL;DR:

  • The Gemini app, now used by more than 900 million people each month, is being redesigned with a new “Neural Expressive” interface, Gemini 3.5 Flash, a video model called Gemini Omni and two new agents.
  • Gemini Spark — a 24/7 cloud-based agent built on Gemini 3.5 and the Antigravity harness — will take action across Gmail, Docs, Slides and partner apps via the Model Context Protocol, beginning a US AI Ultra Beta next week.
  • Daily Brief, a morning-digest agent that summarises inbox and calendar items, launches today for AI Plus, Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US.

Google has used its I/O 2026 keynote to push the Gemini app from a chat interface toward an agentic platform. The app has grown from 400 million monthly users at last year’s I/O to 900 million across 230 countries and 70+ languages, and today’s updates introduce a redesigned interface and a stack of new agents that work in the background.

What’s shipping

The redesign — branded “Neural Expressive” — rolls out globally today with new typography, haptic feedback and dynamic responses that mix imagery, interactive timelines and narrated videos rather than walls of text. Gemini Live conversational mode is now integrated directly into the main app, with regional dialect voices coming soon. Gemini Omni, the new text/image/video-to-video model, is available today to AI Plus, Pro and Ultra subscribers worldwide.

Two agents define the strategic shift. Daily Brief delivers a personalised morning digest from connected Google apps. Gemini Spark — the more ambitious launch — runs continuously in the cloud, persisting when phones and laptops are closed, and takes real actions: parsing credit card statements for hidden subscriptions, building consolidated school-update digests, drafting kick-off emails from meeting notes. Spark connects to Workspace tools and to third-party apps via newly launched Model Context Protocol integrations with Canva, OpenTable and Instacart. Google says Spark asks before high-stakes actions such as spending money or sending email.

Looking forward

For UK users, the Neural Expressive redesign is live today and Omni is available on AI Plus, Pro and Ultra plans. Spark is staged through trusted testers this week before a US-only Ultra Beta, with a wider international rollout to follow. The release puts Google directly against OpenAI’s Operator and Anthropic’s Claude-based agents — and the MCP integration list is the more telling competitive signal: the Model Context Protocol, originated by Anthropic, is now load-bearing for both major rivals’ agent strategies. For UK SMEs already using Workspace, Spark’s value will turn on whether its cross-app workflows can replace bespoke automations built today on Make or Zapier — and on whether Google brings UK enterprise admin controls in line with the Workspace governance UK CIOs already expect.

Share this article