Google I/O highlights Gemini 3.5, Play updates

Google used this week’s I/O conference to show how its AI products are moving from demos into shipping features across Search, Gemini and Android. At the company’s May 19 keynote, Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said Google was focused on “the value in the products” people use every day, after a year of rapid AI releases. Google also introduced Gemini 3.5, a new model family it said is built for “agentic” tasks, and outlined Google Play changes meant to help developers reach users across more surfaces. The announcements came as Google continues to fold Gemini deeper into its consumer products and app ecosystem. ### Why did this I/O feel more like product rollout than concept showcase? Sundar Pichai said on May 19 that Google was now in a phase of the AI cycle where users “want to see the value in the products they use every day,” according to an edited transcript of his I/O keynote. Google’s own roundup of the event listed launches and updates spanning Search, Gemini, Android and developer tools, rather than a single flagship moonshot. CNET’s coverage of the event, cited in the source briefing, described the conference as a broad rollout of updates across Android, Search and Gemini. Google’s keynote materials showed the same pattern, with multiple product announcements tied to existing services and platforms. ### What exactly is Gemini 3.5, and how did Google describe it? (blog.google) Google said on May 19 that Gemini 3.5 is its latest family of models “combining frontier intelligence with action.” In a post by Google DeepMind leaders including Koray Kavukcuoglu and Jeff Dean, the company said the models are meant to help users execute “complex, agentic workflows.” (blog.google) Google’s developer highlights post said Gemini 3.5 Flash “outperforms Gemini 3.1 Pro across almost all benchmarks” and runs four times faster than other frontier models, framing it as a model for real-world agentic use. Separate recap coverage from Geeky Gadgets said one headline I/O theme was Gemini 3.5 Pro alongside AI agents and smart-glasses announcements. (blog.google) ### How big is Google’s AI search push now? Geeky Gadgets reported that Google said AI Mode now serves more than 1 billion monthly users. Google’s earlier Gemini 3 announcement had separately said AI Overviews reach 2 billion users each month and that the Gemini app exceeds 650 million monthly users, giving a sense of the scale Google is citing for its AI products. (blog.google) Google’s I/O materials also tied that search push to more actionable tools. The company’s event collection said it had moved “beyond AI tools that just help us write, to agents that help us act,” and linked those capabilities to Google Antigravity, its agent-first development platform. (geeky-gadgets.com) ### What changed in Google Play for developers? Google said on May 21 that it introduced new Play features to help developers “expand their reach and scale their business with less complexity.” In its Play update, the company said Play Shorts will preview an app’s look and functionality, while Ask Play will let users use conversational search to find apps. (blog.google) Paul Feng, Google Play’s vice president for engineering, product and UX, said in an Android Developers blog post that Google also plans to expand discovery beyond the store. The company said apps will be surfaced directly in the Gemini app on Android and web in the coming weeks, and that Engage SDK surfaces already reach more than 30 million monthly active users and drive app opens up 45% year over year. (blog.google) ### Where does Google say this goes next? Google said in its Android developer post that later this year Gemini will also surface more than 450,000 movies and TV shows and show users where to stream live sports, with deep links into app content. The company directed developers to io.google and the I/O keynote recording for the next set of rollout details. (developer.android.com)