
Google to start embedding AI chatbot in makeover of its search engine
The tech giant is changing the way people get information and curtailing the flow of Internet traffic to websites.
The next phase outlined at Google's annual developers conference includes releasing a new "AI mode" option in the United States.
The feature makes interacting with Google's search engine more like having a conversation with an expert capable of answering questions on just about any topic imaginable.
AI mode is being offered to all consumers in the US just two-and-a-half-months after the company began testing with a limited Labs division audience.
Google is also feeding its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5, into its search algorithms, and will soon begin testing other AI features, such as the ability to automatically buy concert tickets and conduct searches through live video feeds.
In another example of Google's all-in approach to AI, the company revealed it is planning to leverage the technology to re-enter the smart glasses market with a new pair of Android XR-powered spectacles.
The preview of the forthcoming device, which includes a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant, comes 13 years after the debut of "Google Glass," a product that the company scrapped after a public backlash over privacy concerns.
Google didn't say when its Android XR glasses will be available or how much they will cost, but disclosed they will be designed in partnership with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
The glasses will compete against a similar product already on the market from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Ray-Ban.
The expansion builds upon a transformation that Google began a year ago with the introduction of conversational summaries called "AI overviews" that have been increasingly appearing at the top of its results page and eclipsing its traditional rankings of web links.
About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with "AI overviews," according to Google, and most users are now entering longer and more complex queries.
"What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people all over the world," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said before a packed crowd in an amphitheater near the company's Mountain View, California, headquarters.
Although Pichai and other Google executives predicted AI overviews would trigger more searches and ultimately more clicks to other sites, it hasn't worked out that way so far, according to the findings of search optimisation firm BrightEdge.
Clickthrough rates from Google's search results have declined by nearly 30 per cent during the past year, according to BrightEdge's recently released study, which attributed the decrease to people becoming increasingly satisfied with AI overviews.
The decision to make AI mode broadly available after a relatively short test period reflects Google's confidence that the technology won't habitually spew misinformation that tarnishes its brand's reputation, and acknowledges the growing competition from other AI-powered search options from the likes of ChatGPT and Perplexity.
The rapid rise of AI alternatives emerged as a recurring theme in legal proceedings that could force Google to dismantle parts of its internet empire after a US federal judge declared its search engine to be an illegal monopoly.
In testimony during a trial earlier this month, longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue said Google searches done through the iPhone maker's Safari browser have been declining because more people are leaning on AI-powered alternatives.
And Google has cited the upheaval being caused by AI's rise as one of the main reasons that it should only be required to make relatively minor changes to the way it operates its search engine because technology already is changing the competitive landscape.
But Google's reliance on more AI so far appears to be enabling its search engine to maintain its mantle as the Internet's main gateway - a position that's main reason its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc, boasts a market value of $2 trillion (€1.8 trillion).
During the year ending in March, Google received 136 billion monthly visits, 34 times more than ChatGPT's average of 4 billion monthly visits, according to data compiled by onelittleweb.com.
Even Google's own AI mode acknowledged that the company's search engine seems unlikely to be significantly hurt by the shift to AI technology when a journalist from The Associated Press asked whether its introduction would make the company even more powerful.
"Yes, it is highly likely that Google's AI mode will make Google more powerful, particularly in the realm of information access and online influence," the AI mode responded. The feature also warns that web publishers should be concerned about AI mode reducing the traffic they get from search results.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
No woke AI: What to know about Trump's AI plan for global dominance
US President Donald Trump has said he will keep "woke AI" models out of US government, turn the country into an 'AI export powerhouse,' and weaken environmental regulation on the technology. The announcements come as he also signed three artificial intelligence-focused executive orders on Wednesday, which are a part of the country's so-called AI action plan. Here is what he announced and what it means. 1. No Woke AI One order, called 'Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government,' bans "woke AI" models and AI that isn't 'ideologically neutral' from government contracts. It also says diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a 'pervasive and destructive' ideology that can 'distort the quality and accuracy of the output'. It refers to information about race, sex, transgenderism, unconscious bias, intersectionality, and systemic racism. It aims to protect free speech and "American values," but by removing information on topics such as DEI, climate change, and misinformation, it could wind up doing the opposite, as achieving objectivity is difficult in AI. David Sacks, a former PayPal executive and now Trump's top AI adviser, has been criticising 'woke AI' for more than a year, fueled by Google's February 2024 rollout of an AI image generator. When asked to show an American Founding Father, it created pictures of Black, Asian, and Native American men. Google quickly fixed its tool, but the 'Black George Washington' moment remained a parable for the problem of AI's perceived political bias, taken up by X owner Elon Musk, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, US Vice President JD Vance, and Republican lawmakers. 2. Global dominance, cutting regulations The plan prioritises AI innovation and adoption, urging the removal of any barriers that could slow down adoption across industries and government. The nation's policy, Trump said, will be to do 'whatever it takes to lead the world in artificial intelligence". Yet it also seeks to guide the industry's growth to address a longtime rallying point for the tech industry's loudest Trump backers: countering the liberal bias they see in AI chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini. 3. Streamlining AI data centre permits and less environmental regulation Chief among the plan's goals is to speed up permitting and loosen environmental regulation to accelerate construction on new data centres and factories. It condemns 'radical climate dogma' and recommends lifting environmental restrictions, including clean air and water laws. Trump has previously paired AI's need for huge amounts of electricity with his own push to tap into US energy sources, including gas, coal, and nuclear. 'We will be adding at least as much electric capacity as China,' Trump said at the Wednesday event. 'Every company will be given the right to build their own power plant'. Many tech giants are already well on their way toward building new data centres in the US and around the world. OpenAI announced this week that it has switched on the first phase of a massive data centre complex in Abilene, Texas, part of an Oracle-backed project known as Stargate that Trump promoted earlier this year. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and xAI also have major projects underway. The tech industry has pushed for easier permitting rules to get its computing facilities connected to power, but the AI building boom has also contributed to spiking demand for fossil fuel production, which contributes to global warming. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the world's major tech firms to power data centres completely with renewables by 2030. The plan includes a strategy to disincentivise states from aggressively regulating AI technology, calling on federal agencies not to provide funding to states with burdensome regulations. 'We need one common sense federal standard that supersedes all states, supersedes everybody,' Trump said, 'so you don't end up in litigation with 43 states at one time'. Call for a People's AI Action Plan There are sharp debates on how to regulate AI, even among the influential venture capitalists who have been debating it on their favourite medium: the podcast. While some Trump backers, particularly Andreessen, have advocated an 'accelerationist' approach that aims to speed up AI advancement with minimal regulation, Sacks has described himself as taking a middle road of techno-realism. 'Technology is going to happen. Trying to stop it is like ordering the tides to stop. If we don't do it, somebody else will,' Sacks said on the 'All-In' podcast. On Tuesday, more than 100 groups, including labour unions, parent groups, environmental justice organisations, and privacy advocates, signed a resolution opposing Trump's embrace of industry-driven AI policy and calling for a 'People's AI Action Plan' that would 'deliver first and foremost for the American people.' Anthony Aguirre, executive director of the non-profit Future of Life Institute, told Euronews Next that Trump's plan acknowledges the "critical risks presented by increasingly powerful AI systems," citing bioweapons, cyberattacks, and the unpredictability of AI. But in a statement, he said the White House should go further to protect citizens and workers. "By continuing to rely on voluntary safety commitments from frontier AI corporations, it leaves the United States at risk of serious accidents, massive job losses, extreme concentrations of power, and the loss of human control," Aguirre said. "We know from experience that Big Tech promises alone are simply not enough".


Mediapart
6 hours ago
- Mediapart
Macrons file US lawsuit over claims first lady was born male
The cookies and similar technologies we use on Mediapart are of different natures and allow us to pursue different purposes. Some are necessary for the functioning of the site and the mobile application (you cannot refuse them). Others are optional but help to facilitate your experience as a reader and in some way support Mediapart. You can refuse or accept them below, depending on their purpose. Do you agree that Mediapart uses cookies or similar technologies for the following purposes ? You can make your choice, for each category, by enabling or disabling the switch button. Mandatory for the operation of the site or application Subscriber login, anonymized audience measurement, sending of push notifications, tracking of failures, highlighting of our services these tools are necessary to track the activity of our services and their proper functioning. read more Here are the various cookies and similar technologies included in this category : Authentication cookies : subscriber login. : subscriber login. AT Internet : anonymized audience measurement : anonymized audience measurement Display of multimedia editorial content : videos (YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, INA), social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter), documents (Scribd, Document Cloud, Slideshare), sounds (SoundCloud, Spotify, Deezer), maps (Google Maps, Mapbox, CartoDB, uMap), infographics (Highcharts, GitHub, Datawrapper, Flourish, Infogram, ThingLink, jQuery, Google Fonts, Bootstrap), live blogs (24liveblog, CoverItLive), media integration support in Journal and Club publications (Embedly). : videos (YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, INA), social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter), documents (Scribd, Document Cloud, Slideshare), sounds (SoundCloud, Spotify, Deezer), maps (Google Maps, Mapbox, CartoDB, uMap), infographics (Highcharts, GitHub, Datawrapper, Flourish, Infogram, ThingLink, jQuery, Google Fonts, Bootstrap), live blogs (24liveblog, CoverItLive), media integration support in Journal and Club publications (Embedly). Typeform : optional questionnaires to collect readers opinions on our digital products. : optional questionnaires to collect readers opinions on our digital products. Datadog (only on the website) : technical indicators and load balancing. : technical indicators and load balancing. Selligent (only on the website) : communication with the subscriber, highlighting of services, offers and benefits. : communication with the subscriber, highlighting of services, offers and benefits. Batch (only on the app) : sending push notifications and in-app messages. : sending push notifications and in-app messages. Firebase Cloud Messaging (only on app) : required for push notifications to work on Android. : required for push notifications to work on Android. Microsoft App Center (only on app) : app update and failure tracking system. Statistics These tools allow us to collect statistics on site and mobile application traffic to understand usage, detect possible problems and optimize the ergonomics of our products. read more These are the third-party tools included in this category : AT Internet : audience measurement related to subscriber ID. : audience measurement related to subscriber ID. CrazyEggs (only on website) : customer journey analysis. : customer journey analysis. Nonli (only on website) : helps our social network team to publish our contents on social networks. : helps our social network team to publish our contents on social networks. Qiota (available only on the website) : management of the datawall system. Advertising retargeting There is no advertising on Mediapart. But we do promote our content and services on other sites and social networks. For this, we use technologies made available by some advertising companies. read more These are the third-party tools included in this category : Facebook (only on the website) : audience targeting on social networks to promote Mediapart. Content Access Management We use the Qiota service from Opper Marketing Suite to configure the activation of a datawall on certain content (available only on the website). This system, intended for non-subscribed users, requires the input of an email address to access the relevant content. By providing this information, the user consents to its collection, storage, and use for statistical purposes. In accordance with the applicable regulations, users have the right to access, rectify, and delete their data, which they can exercise by contacting dpo@ Save and close


France 24
17 hours ago
- France 24
Google-parent Alphabet earnings shine with help of AI
Alphabet's second-quarter profit of $28.2 billion -- on $96.4 billion in revenue -- came with word that the tech giant will invest more than its previously planned $85 billion on capital expenditure, as it spends heavily on AI infrastructure to meet growing demand for cloud services. "We had a standout quarter, with robust growth across the company," said Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai. "AI is positively impacting every part of the business, driving strong momentum." Revenue from search grew double-digits in the quarter, with features such as AI Overviews and the recently launched AI mode "performing well," according to Pichai. Ad revenue at YouTube continues to grow along with the video platform's subscription services, Alphabet reported. Alphabet's cloud computing business is on pace to bring in $50 billion over the course of the year, according to the company. "With this strong and growing demand for our cloud products and services, we are increasing our investment in capital expenditures in 2025 to approximately $85 billion and are excited by the opportunity ahead," Pichai said. Alphabet shares were essentially flat in after-market trades that followed the release of the earnings figures. Investors have been watching closely to see whether the tech giant may be pouring too much money into artificial intelligence and whether AI-generated summaries of search results will translate into fewer opportunities to serve up money-making ads. The internet giant is dabbling with ads in its new AI Mode for online search, a strategic move to fend off competition from ChatGPT while adapting its advertising business for an AI age. The integration of advertising has been a key question accompanying the rise of generative AI chatbots, which have largely avoided interrupting the user experience with marketing messages. However, advertising remains Google's financial bedrock. Google and rivals are spending billions of dollars on data centers and more for AI, while the rise of lower-cost model DeepSeek from China raises questions about how much needs to be spent. Antitrust battles Meanwhile the online ad business that generates the cash Google invests in its future could be neutered due to a defeat in a US antitrust case. During the summer of 2024, Google was found guilty of illegal practices to establish and maintain its monopoly in online search by a federal judge in Washington. The Justice Department is now demanding remedies that could transform the digital landscape: Google's divestiture from its Chrome browser and a ban on entering exclusivity agreements with smartphone manufacturers to install the search engine by default. District Judge Amit Mehta is considering "remedies" in a decision expected in the coming days or weeks. In another legal battle, a different US judge ruled this year that Google wielded monopoly power in the online ad technology market, another legal blow that could rattle the tech giant's revenue engine. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google built an illegal monopoly over ad software and tools used by publishers. Combined, the courtroom defeats have the potential to leave Google split up and its influence curbed. Google said it is appealing both rulings. © 2025 AFP