Google calls the Search update the most important in the last 25 years. Take it with caution — it's the line every big-tech uses at a keynote — but the announced changes are substantial on two fronts: the search interface and the arrival of agents.
The "intelligent" search box
The new box expands dynamically as you type, recognizing that queries today are longer and more conversational. It accepts text, images, files, videos, and Chrome tabs as input. Suggestions are no longer simple autocomplete: they anticipate user intent, trying to guess what you're trying to do, not just what you're about to write. Rollout began on May 19 in all countries and languages where AI Mode is available.
Information agents
This is the piece that changes the product's nature most. Search stops being a feature you activate and becomes a service that works for you in the background. You create an information agent (for example: "alert me when something relevant comes out about X"), give it a scope, and the agent keeps monitoring the web — blogs, news sites, social posts, Google's fresh data — synthesizing intelligent updates for you with the ability to take action.
Information agents will arrive in summer and will be reserved to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
Under the hood: Gemini 3.5 Flash
The default model in AI Mode becomes Gemini 3.5 Flash, in all countries and for all users. It's the same logic that changed the ChatGPT experience when OpenAI replaced its default model: gains in speed and reasoning show up everywhere, even on trivial queries.
Personal Intelligence: personal apps come into AI Mode
The least-narrated but most strategically relevant piece is the expansion of Personal Intelligence in AI Mode. Google extends the feature to nearly 200 countries and territories, across 98 languages, no subscription required. Personal Intelligence lets you opt-in connect apps like Gmail, Google Photos, and — coming soon — Google Calendar to the Search context.
In practice: you ask Search "find that photo of my daughter at the sea last summer" or "when do I need to book the flight for the July conference?" and the answer comes by drawing from your personal Google data, not just the public web. Google emphasizes opt-in design: the user explicitly chooses if and when to connect apps, and can disconnect them at any time. It's slippery ground on the privacy front — the same feature in ChatGPT or Claude requires a more technical MCP setup — and Google here leverages the advantage of already owning the integrated consumer stack.