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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Google Search is getting a new AI Search box.
• Search information agent monitors topics in the background.
• Agentic coding lets you build small apps in Search.

Remember when Google Search felt simple? You typed a few words into a box, scanned a list of blue links, and hoped for the best. That version of Search is long gone, buried deep under AI. At I/O 2026, Google announced a bunch of Search updates that make it clear the product is becoming something more conversational, more personal, and more like an assistant that can do things for you.

Also: Sick of AI in Search? These 7 Google alternatives still put links first

The company said it is bringing "advanced model capabilities to Search with new AI features," including a new AI Search box, information agents, agentic coding, and a personalization feature that pulls from your Google app data, to name a few things.

"The goal of Search has always been simple: to help you ask anything on your mind," said Liz Reid, vice president and head of Search. The difference now is that Search is designed not just to answer, but to research, shop, book, monitor, and create on your behalf.

Here's what's new, who gets it, and when you can actually use it.

1. AI Mode runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash

The AI Mode tab in Google Search on desktop and mobile is powered globally by a new model called Gemini 3.5 Flash.

At I/O, Google announced the Gemini 3.5 family and described it as a "major leap forward in building more capable, intelligent agents." It said 3.5 Flash can provide "frontier performance for agents and coding, excelling at complex long-horizon tasks."

It's basically a faster, agent-ready model that can reason across sources, handle longer prompts, understand images and video, and complete multistep workflows. Google said it is also making it easier to "continue the conversation" in Search. You can now ask follow-up questions from an AI Overview, move into a "conversational back and forth with AI Mode," and Search keeps your context.

Also: How to remove AI Overviews from Google Search: 4 easy ways

According to Google, AI Mode has passed one billion monthly users. Now, it is rolling out 3.5 Flash as the default model behind it.

• Who can access? AI Mode with Gemini 3.5 Flash is available globally across devices.
• When will it be available? Now, according to Google's I/O 2026 announcement.

2. A new AI Search box

Google is overhauling the Search box and decoupling it from keywords.

Instead of making you compress a messy thought into a few search terms, the new box is built for conversational, multimodal questions. You can just go ahead and enter whatever you want now. As Google put it, "Because your curiosity doesn't always fit into keywords," it is introducing "the biggest upgrade to our Search box in over 25 years... now completely reimagined with AI."

For you, that means Search should better understand your specific, multipart ramblings. So instead of typing "best portable Bluetooth speaker waterproof Alexa," you could ask something closer to how you would ask a person: "I want a portable Bluetooth speaker to take out by the pool. It'd be nice if it were waterproof and supported Alexa. Which ones are worth buying?"

Also: Use Google AI Overview for health advice? It's 'really dangerous,' investigation finds

You can ask with text, images, files, videos, or Chrome tabs. Google said the new AI Search box would put "powerful AI tools right at your fingertips" with AI suggestions that "go beyond autocomplete."

• Who can access? The new AI Search box is available to all users.
• When will it be available? Google said it is "starting to roll out today" in areas where AI Mode is available.

3. Search agents can research things for you

One of the more interesting new Search features may just be agents.

Google said it is entering "the era of Search agents," where you can create, customize, and manage multiple AI agents inside Search. The idea is that these Search agents can keep working in the background after you ask a question.

The first version is information agents. You can tell it what you want to monitor, and it will keep checking the web, blogs, news, social posts, and other recent sources. Google used apartment hunting as an example: "You can brain dump all of the exact requirements you're looking for, and your agent will continuously scan for you, notifying you when listings meet your needs."

Also: How Google just revamped Gemini Enterprise for the agentic era - here's what's new

• Who can access? Google said information agents will come to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers first.
• When will they be available? Planned for this summer.

4. Search will help book local services

Search is adding agentic booking capabilities for local services and appointments.

Google's example: Need a private karaoke room for six people on a Friday night, with food? Google Search with Gemini 3.5 Flash will show you the latest pricing and availability with "direct links to finish booking through the provider of your choice." But for select categories, like home repair, beauty, or pet care, you will be able to ask "Google to call the business on your behalf."

Also: Inside Google's vision to make Gmail your personal AI agent command center

• Who can access? Google said, "These capabilities will roll out to everyone in the US."
• When will it be available? Summer 2026.

5. Shopping is getting more agentic, too

Google also announced a new AI-powered shopping cart feature connected across Search, Gemini, Google Pay, Gmail, and YouTube. Called Universal Cart, it follows your shopping research across Google services. It remembers products you're considering, watches for price drops, finds alternatives, and helps build a cart using your payment, membership, loyalty, and shipping details.

Also: I let Chrome's AI agent shop, research, and email for me - here's how it went

Google said it was built on Google Wallet and "lets you quickly find opportunities for hidden savings or points." It gave the example of building a custom PC, which needs a few parts from several retailers. "Your cart will proactively flag any product incompatibilities and suggest alternatives," Google said. "It understands your payment method perks, loyalty information, and merchant offers."

• Who can access? Universal Cart is coming first to Search and the Gemini app in the US, with YouTube and Gmail to follow.
• When will it be available? Universal Cart starts this summer.

6. Agentic coding comes to Search

Google is putting one of AI's most popular use cases front and center in Search. Or, as Google put it, it is bringing "the power of Google Antigravity and the agentic coding capabilities of Gemini 3.5 Flash right into Search." That means you can ask Search to code small tools or apps, complete with a custom generative UI, layout, and real-time components such as interactive graphs.

Also: I stopped using ChatGPT for everything: These AI models beat it at research, coding, and more

Google's examples include an astrophysics visualization, a wedding-planning dashboard, a moving tracker, and a fitness app that pulls in new data from reviews, live maps, local sources, and weather. 

• Who can access and when? Google said "generative UI capabilities" will be available to everyone in Search this summer, "free of charge." It also said users will be able to "build custom experiences with Antigravity, like mini apps, right in Search in the coming months," starting first with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US.

7. Personal Intelligence in AI Mode

Google is bringing its opt-in personalization features to Search through what it calls Personal Intelligence in AI Mode.

Also: This powerful Gemini setting made my AI results way more personal and accurate

If you choose to connect apps such as Gmail, Google Calendar, or Google Photos, Search can use your information from those apps to provide more personalized answers. That means it could be better at more personal questions, like finding a receipt buried in your Gmail or surfacing relevant Google Photos while you research something. You can connect or disconnect any app at any time.

• Who can access? Google said Personal Intelligence in AI Mode is "expanding" to people in "nearly 200 countries and territories across 98 languages -- no subscription required."
• When will it be available? It appears to be rolling out now.

My takeaway

Google Search has come a long way from the list of blue links.

What Google is building now looks more like a control panel for AI agents. I suppose this new version is for people who already use AI to search. It can handle your long, messy, oddly specific questions, monitor topics for you in the background, shop for products, book local services, build small tools, and personalize answers with information pulled directly from connected Google apps.

For power users, that's the fun part: Google is putting agentic tools directly into Search.

For everyone else, I suspect the most noticeable changes will be the new Personal Intelligence features (if they opt in), the Gemini 3.5 Flash capabilities in AI Mode, and the new AI-powered Search box. Google Search is no longer just a place to type a few keywords and click around. It is smarter, more personal, and, in some cases, willing to do more of the tedious work for you.

The trade-off is that the more Search becomes an agent that can personalize, monitor, and act for you, the more you have to trust Google with your data and the context behind what you're asking.