At the annual developer event Google I/O held this evening in California, Google announced a significant change in the user experience of the world’s most popular search engine: “AI Overview” is coming out of beta and will be available as early as this week to millions of users worldwide, including in Israel. This is the first time the company is integrating its artificial intelligence, based on the Gemini 2.5 engine, so extensively into the regular search engine. It represents a conceptual shift—from a static search engine to a smart and dynamic assistant tool.
AI Overview
Alongside the classic search results, a new tab will now appear under the title "AI Overview." Here, Google will present synthetic answers to complex questions, summarizing the key information from the internet while referencing sources. For example, instead of receiving a list of links when searching “What is the difference between cold-pressed olive oil and regular olive oil?”, the user will get an immediate, organized, and well-founded answer, saving the need to sift through dozens of websites.
The major innovation is not only in how the information is presented, but also in how it is gathered. According to the company, AI Overview performs hundreds of small searches, locates relevant information, and analyzes it in real time. The information Google provides will be displayed in a structured format, sometimes accompanied by graphs, tables, or summarizing insights.
A Personal Agent for Task Execution
Beyond improving how information is presented, Google also demonstrated the system’s new operational capabilities at the event. Under the “agentic” model, users will be able to ask the system to perform complex tasks for them, such as: Finding concert tickets, comparing prices, checking availability across different websites, and filling out initial forms.
In principle, the system can be thought of as a personal assistant with broad access to the web, capable of advising, recommending, and performing simple actions on your behalf. It is important to emphasize that the system will not make purchases or final actions without active approval from the user.
Integration with Google Services and Privacy
One of Google’s major promises is deeper integration with existing services like Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Maps. For example, when a user plans a trip, AI Overview will be able to suggest restaurants that match their preferences, remind them of reservation details from their email, and cross-check locations with local recommendations.
Alongside these promises, Google also aimed to reassure users. Users will be able to control the level of AI access to personal information and can enable or disable these features at any time.
Real-Time Analysis
Over the coming months, Google is expected to expand the service and add support for particularly complex queries, using graphs and real-time updated data. For instance, a user could ask to compare the performance of tech companies in the stock market, and the system would generate detailed charts in real time. This innovation could turn the search engine into a more professional tool in areas such as finance, sports, health planning, smart consumerism, and trend analysis.
Gemini 2.5
All the new functionalities rely on Google’s updated AI system, Gemini 2.5. This is a powerful model that combines text comprehension, image analysis, process planning, text generation, and logical inference. The model runs securely on Google’s servers and is capable of performing multiple searches and generating rich answers within seconds. In addition, a new version of Gemini Nano—the lightweight AI version for mobile devices—was also announced and will soon arrive on Pixel and Samsung smartphones.
For users, this promises simpler, faster, and more in-depth browsing, but also a shift in habits: Until now, we were used to searching for terms, reading headlines, and choosing what to click on. Now, Google is attempting to take responsibility for the filtering and presentation phase. For websites, businesses, and content creators, this marks a major shift, since if Google summarizes the main points for the user, fewer users may reach the original sites directly. In the meantime, Google notes that use of the new mode has already increased the time users spend on searches, as well as the complexity of the questions they ask. This may indicate that the search revolution is just beginning.