VentureBeat
5/19/2026
Google merges AI Overviews and conversational search into unified multimodal interface
Original: Google just redesigned the search box for the first time in 25 years — here’s why it matters more than you think.
Short summary
Google unified its search box with AI Overviews and AI Mode into a single conversational interface accepting text, images, PDFs, and videos. With 1B AI Mode users and queries doubling quarterly, the company is shifting from keyword search to open-ended, multimodal conversations. Backed by Gemini 3.5 Flash, this redesign rolls out globally immediately.
- •Search box now expands and accepts multimodal inputs (images, PDFs, videos, Chrome tabs)
- •AI Overviews and AI Mode merged; 1B monthly AI Mode users, queries doubling each quarter
- •Powered by Gemini 3.5 Flash; rolls out worldwide starting immediately
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