Google kicked off its I/O 2026 keynote in Mountain View by pivoting away from Android and putting artificial intelligence front‑and‑center. The company rolled out a new AI‑powered Search box that accepts text, images, files and even open Chrome tabs, promising to anticipate user intent beyond traditional autocomplete. The overhaul launches globally in every language where AI Mode is enabled.

Under the hood, AI Mode now runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google’s latest ‘Flash’ model touted as its strongest agentic and coding engine. The upgrade powers Personal Intelligence, letting Gemini tap Gmail, Photos and soon Calendar to surface answers. Subscribers to AI Pro and Ultra will get access to information agents that monitor blogs, news and data, plus booking assistance for services like karaoke rooms.

Google also unveiled generative UI tools via Antigravity, allowing users to craft custom visualizations, tables and even mini‑apps directly in Search. The functionality, free this summer, aims to let anyone build dashboards for tasks such as wedding planning or fitness tracking using live Google data. With the AI‑driven Search overhaul, Google is betting its core product can stay indispensable.