Google Launches AI Mode in India for Smarter Search

Prime Highlights

Google has made its AI-driven “AI Mode” for Search available in India through Search Labs.
The new feature caters to voice, text, and visual inputs to facilitate a more interactive and intuitive search experience.

Key Facts

AI Mode is based on Gemini 2.5 and provides wiser reasoning, summarization, and follow-up conversations.
It enables users to type, say, or upload pictures to get context-specific search results.
Initially announced at Google I/O 2025, the release makes the cutting-edge AI experience available to Indian consumers.

Key Background

Google has made a major move towards reshaping internet search with its AI-driven “AI Mode” launch in India. Following its initial introduction in the United States, the feature is now available for Indian consumers via Search Labs. The AI Mode heightens the search experience by shifting it from a conventional keyword-based presentation to interactive, conversational multimodal input-driven one.

AI Mode is founded on Google’s high-end Gemini 2.5 model, which supports profound comprehension of sophisticated queries, offering summaries, citations, and even subdividing questions into sub-questions. The difference with this mode is its multimodal nature: people can input questions by typing, voice, or even uploading images to receive answers. This is particularly beneficial for diverse user needs – for instance, one can now upload a picture of a plant and ask Google to identify it, or speak follow-up queries instead of typing them.

This features enhances the previous “AI Overviews” launched in 2023, which gave brief summaries in addition to search results. But AI Mode goes way beyond that by providing interactive features. The interface has also seen an upgrade – now, users can have complete conversations with Search, including follow-ups, visual context, and contextual understanding.

Google is also experimenting with next-generation features such as “Search Live” – an interactive tool for voice-based search that facilitates hands-free searches and real-time responses – and “Visual Live Mode,” which enables interaction with what one observes through their camera. AI Mode also offers personalized interactions, recommending shopping items through Google’s Shopping Graph and facilitating task automation like ticket booking or form filling.

India’s entry to AI Mode is apt, given the nation has experienced increased activity in AI-based tools. The update not just makes Google Search more intelligent but also places it as a digital assistant, doing research, making recommendations, and learning user habits over time – all in a secure, opt-in environment.