Google is integrating its Gemini AI tool into Chrome browsers for all users in the U.S. starting this week, just weeks after getting clearance from a federal judge that it won't have to sell its browser. In the coming months, it plans to add agentic capabilities that can perform multi-step tasks to the browser, such as shopping, booking appointments, and finding previously visited webpages and offering summaries of the content viewed. Google is also building a deeper integration between Gemini and other Google products like Calendar, YouTube, and Maps.
Here's a recap of the 10 features that are currently released or coming soon:
- Gemini in Chrome – now rolling out on desktop and mobile to Mac and Windows users in the U.S., with iOS and Android integration coming soon.
- Agentic browsing assistant – Gemini will soon be able to complete tasks like booking appointments and shopping on your behalf.
- Multi-tab support – compare and summarize information across tabs, like consolidating travel plans into a single itinerary.
- Past page recall – ask Gemini to find sites you previously visited without digging through browser history.
- Google app integration – deeper connections with Calendar, YouTube, and Maps that let you perform tasks like adding calendar events or looking for a specific spot in a YouTube video without leaving the page.
- AI Mode in omnibox – search using Google AI Mode directly from the Chrome address bar, which it calls the “omnibox.”
- Contextual AI questions – ask questions about the page you’re on and receive AI Overviews alongside the site content.
- Expanded scam detection – Gemini Nano enhances Safe Browsing by spotting tech support scams, fake virus alerts, and fake giveaways.
- Notification and permission filtering – AI reduces spammy notifications and adapts permission prompts based on your preferences.
- One-click password changes – Chrome will let users change compromised passwords instantly on supported sites. (Good because Google tells me I have like 981 compromised passwords.)
OpenAI, Meta, and Apple have some catching up to do if they plan on competing with integrated AI tools like that! I look forward to giving some of those features a try.
In other Google agentic news… the company introduced a technical protocol called “Agent Payments Protocol” or “AP2” that uses “mandates” or “cryptographically-signed digital contracts” to serve as proof of shoppers' instructions and standardize how AI agents conduct secure transactions with merchants. The open protocol was built in collaboration with 60 partners including Adyen, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Intuit, and Worldpay and is designed to work with traditional payments, stablecoins, and crypto, aiming to manage an estimated $136B in AI-driven transactions this year.
