(Credit: Google)
Like it or not, more AI is coming to Google’s Chrome browser, including some “agentic” assistant capabilities designed to complete repetitive tasks.
First, Google's Gemini chatbot will be available on Chrome for free. The company debuted the Gemini integration at Google I/O in May, but it initially required a paid Google AI plan. Starting today, Gemini in Chrome is rolling out for free to Mac and Windows desktop users in the US with English set as their language. Access it by clicking the star icon in the top right-hand corner, which will open a small window, letting you type directly to Gemini.
Gemini is also coming to Chrome on mobile in the US, "ensuring you’ll always have access to our AI features, whether you’re at home or on the go," says Google VP of Product Mike Torres.
It's rolling out first on Android, where you can also activate Gemini via the power button, and coming "soon" to iOS, Torres says.
The change might expose more users to Gemini, a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Google is also promising that Gemini can do more than simply answer your questions, but perform various tasks on your Chrome session. “In the coming months, we’ll be introducing agentic capabilities to Gemini in Chrome. These will let Gemini in Chrome handle those tedious tasks that take up so much of your time, like booking a haircut or ordering your weekly groceries,” Torres says.
The company showed a demo to journalists, involving a user asking Gemini to buy a list of ingredients displayed in an email from their Gmail account. In response, the Gemini integration reads the email, opens a new browser tab in Chrome to load up Instacart.com, and proceeds to add the various items to the cart before the user can review and finalize the purchase. “It can be stopped at any time, so you’re in control,” Torres says.
In addition, Gemini can navigate through various browser tabs to compare and summarize information across them. This could be helpful if you’re planning a trip and have various tabs open concerning hotels, flights, and vacation information.
Google also views Gemini as a new way to access and conveniently search through your browser history for a site you’d like to re-access. Prompts like “what was the website that I saw the walnut desk on last week?” or “what was that blog I read on back-to-school shopping?” should cause Gemini to return the accurate result from your browser history, Torres says.
The same can apply to Google’s YouTube. In another demo, the company showed a user asking Gemini for a summary of a YouTube clip. In return, the chatbot analyzed the video and wrote several brief takeaways, along with links to the specific sections in the clip.
For now, Google merely demoed the agentic features in the clips shown above, rather than offering a hands on. We're curious how they perform and whether the AI integration is susceptible to error since Gemini and other chatbots are prone to hallucinations.
AI Mode in Chrome's Search Bar
(Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Outside of Gemini, the other major change coming to Chrome is Google integrating its AI Mode directly into the browser’s search/address bar. That’s a major shake-up since the bar usually takes your query and runs it through the traditional Google search engine.
In contrast, Google’s AI Mode dumps the traditional search results page filled with links for a ChatGPT-like interface that researches your question and generates the answer for you — with the links to the third-party sources shoved off to the side.
Chrome’s upcoming AI Mode will appear in the search bar by default —but using it isn’t automatic. Based on a demo, it looks like you’ll need to type your request into the search bar and then click a button to run it through the AI Mode. Otherwise, your query will simply go through the normal Google search engine.
"AI Mode is completely optional," Google says. Expect it to roll out later this month in English for US users, with more markets and languages added in the weeks ahead. (If you don’t like the AI Mode button, Google is indicating that only Chrome Enterprise users can completely disable it.)
In another tweak, Google says accessing Chrome’s search bar will trigger the browser to offer AI-powered “contextual suggestions” based on the web page being viewed. This could include summarizing the customer views on a product page or finding out more about the warranty policy.
On the security side, Google has released more details about how it’s going to use AI to automatically replace your exposed passwords through Chrome. The company first introduced the feature in May; it builds on Google’s Password Manager and is accessible on the browser.
Although Chrome's password manager already alerts you if a saved password appears in a data breach, changing it has traditionally required visiting the site and completing extra steps. The good news: Google wants Chrome to handle the entire process with a single click, automatically replacing compromised passwords with stronger ones and saving them in Password Manager.
The only challenge is that the feature requires third-party websites to add some computer code to enable the password replacement. After teasing the feature in May, Google now says it will launch “very soon,” with support for about 250 sites, including Coursera, Spotify, Duolingo, and H&M. Expect more sites to be added over time.
We suspect Google announced the features to try and outdo OpenAI, which is preparing its own AI-powered browser to take on Chrome. It’s no secret that ChatGPT poses a competitive threat to traditional search engines, although Google still dominates in traffic.