Google Search hits one billion AI Mode users as agentic features expand

TL;DR:

  • AI Mode in Google Search has reached one billion monthly users a year after launch, with query volumes more than doubling every quarter.
  • Gemini 3.5 Flash becomes the default model in AI Mode globally from today, and the search box has been redesigned with multimodal inputs for the first time in 25 years.
  • Information agents, agentic booking, generative UI built on Google Antigravity and Personal Intelligence integrations with Gmail and Google Photos are rolling out through summer.

Google used the I/O 2026 keynote to set out the most extensive AI-era overhaul of Search since the box first launched, announcing that AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users in its first year and that query volume reached an all-time high last quarter. The update repositions Search as a platform for agents rather than a single answer engine.

What changes today

From today, Gemini 3.5 Flash becomes the default model behind AI Mode for everyone, globally. The traditional search box has been replaced with an “intelligent” version that dynamically resizes, accepts images, files, video and Chrome tabs as inputs, and offers AI-generated phrasing suggestions that go beyond autocomplete. Users can now ask follow-up questions directly inside an AI Overview and continue a conversation across desktop and mobile.

Three agentic features are being staged through the summer. Information agents — launching first for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers — will monitor the web on standing queries (apartment listings, sneaker drops, finance prices) and notify users when something changes. Agentic booking expands beyond travel into local services such as karaoke rooms and home repairs, and for some categories Google will call businesses on a user’s behalf in the US. And generative UI, built on Google Antigravity and Gemini 3.5 Flash’s coding capabilities, will let Search assemble custom dashboards, interactive simulations and “mini apps” on the fly — free of charge, rolling out globally this summer.

Looking forward

For UK users, the most immediate change is the search box itself: it ships today in every market where AI Mode is available, including the UK. Personal Intelligence, which connects Gmail and Google Photos (with Calendar to follow), is expanding to nearly 200 countries across 98 languages with no subscription. The competitive pressure is sharpening — Microsoft’s Copilot, OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search and Anthropic’s Claude all moved on agentic search in recent quarters, and Google’s billion-user metric is a deliberate signal that the incumbent default is not yet up for grabs. Watch how UK information-agent rollouts interact with the new monetisation models for high-intent queries that publishers have already raised with Ofcom and the CMA.

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