A hot potato: The nightmare scenario in which AI Mode becomes the default in Google Search – something the company once suggested would happen – briefly became a reality. But before users had a chance to abandon Chrome in droves, an exec confirmed that it was an error, and there are no plans to make AI Mode the default.

As spotted by Windows Report, a flag in the new Chrome Canary release called Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode appeared to confirm people's worst fears.
The flag's description explained that it "redirects all normal searchbox queries in the omnibox and realbox to AI mode threads. – Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS."

As you can work out, enabling the flag caused Google Search results to show in AI Mode by default – rather than needing to click on the AI Mode tab at the top like in the regular Google search results.

Google uses Canary to test features for its browser before they appear in the latest stable version of Chrome, though not all of them make the cut.

There are several reasons why Google would make AI Mode the default, despite the majority of users not wanting it. Like other tech giants, Google has poured billions into artificial intelligence and wants a return on its investment, even if users are sick of having AI rammed down their throats.

The bigger indication is that Google has already hinted this was its long-term plan. Back in September, Logan Kilpatrick, lead product manager for Google AI Studio, posted a message on X about AI Mode becoming more accessible at the new google.com/AI URL. Another user said that the mode should be the default for Search, to which Kilpatrick replied "soon :)".

– Logan Kilpatrick (@OfficialLoganK) September 5, 2025

Google Search vice president Robby Stein then tried to downplay the comment after a barrage of vitriol from angry users. He noted that he "wouldn't read too much into this" as the focus was on making AI Mode easier to access.

– Robby Stein (@rmstein) September 7, 2025

Thankfully, Google has confirmed AI Mode is not becoming the default – at least not yet. Rajan Patel, VP of Engineering for Search at the company, said that the setting appearing in Chrome's Canary build "was an error. We're not planning to make AI Mode the default for Chrome searches."

– Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) June 5, 2026

Whether Patel is telling the truth and this really was an error, or whether this was a response to the outcry over an intended Canary feature, remains to be seen.