Google adds AI agents to Search

Google on May 19 moved AI agents into Search and introduced Gemini 3.5 Flash as the new default model for AI Mode, broadening a push it says will put more advanced AI tools directly in front of users. Sundar Pichai unveiled the changes at the company’s annual I/O conference in Mountain View, California, as Alphabet tries to defend its core search business while competing with OpenAI and Anthropic in consumer and enterprise AI. (finance.yahoo.com) Reuters reported Google also rolled out a faster, cheaper Gemini model for enterprise customers at the same event. (cnbc.com) Google said the changes amount to the biggest upgrade to its Search box in more than 25 years. (blog.google) Elizabeth Reid, Google’s vice president of Search, said the redesigned box is “completely reimagined with AI” and can take text, images, files, videos and Chrome tabs as inputs. ### What exactly changed inside Google Search? Google said on May 19 that AI Mode now runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash by default for users globally. The company said the updated Search box expands dynamically, offers AI-generated suggestions beyond autocomplete and lets users continue from AI Overviews into a back-and-forth conversation in AI Mode across desktop and mobile. (finance.yahoo.com) Elizabeth Reid said Google is entering “the era of Search agents,” with users able to create, customize and manage multiple AI agents inside Search. Google’s I/O roundup described them as “Information agents in Search,” part of a broader rollout of agentic features across products. (blog.google) ### What did Google say about the new Gemini model? Sundar Pichai said Gemini 3.5 Flash is a lighter-weight model built for speed and action-oriented tasks. In a briefing ahead of I/O, Pichai said the model is “remarkably fast,” and CNBC reported Google said it would cost half, or in some cases about one-third, the price of comparable frontier models. (blog.google) Reuters reported Google presented the cheaper model as part of its pitch to enterprise customers, where Anthropic and OpenAI have gained traction. Google’s I/O materials said Gemini 3.5 Flash combines “frontier intelligence with action,” while the company’s Search post said it delivers “sustained frontier performance for agents and coding.” (blog.google) ### How big is Google saying AI Mode has become? Google said AI Mode has surpassed 1 billion monthly users one year after its debut. Elizabeth Reid said queries in AI Mode have more than doubled every quarter since launch, and Pichai said Google is now processing more than 3.2 quadrillion tokens per month across its surfaces. (cnbc.com) Pichai also said more than 8.5 million developers are building apps and experiences with Google’s models each month, and that over the past 12 months more than 375 Google Cloud customers each processed more than one trillion tokens. Those figures were part of Google’s case that its AI products are reaching both consumers and businesses at scale. (finance.yahoo.com) ### Where does this fit in Google’s broader I/O push? Reuters said Google used I/O to show deeper AI integrations across its products while trying to blunt gains by Anthropic and OpenAI. CNBC reported Google also introduced Gemini Spark, a general-purpose AI agent in the Gemini app, and Google’s I/O collection said the company released two new model lines, Gemini Omni and Gemini 3.5. (blog.google) Google said Gemini Spark will begin with trusted testers and Google AI Ultra subscribers starting next week. The company said the new Search box began rolling out on May 19 in all countries and languages where AI Mode is available, with follow-up conversations from AI Overviews into AI Mode already live on desktop and mobile worldwide. (blog.google) (cnbc.com) (finance.yahoo.com)