BLOG

Google AI Mode May Soon Become the Default in Search (Or Maybe Not)

Logan Kilpatrick, lead product manager for Google DeepMind, Gemini, and other AI products at Google, said that Google AI Mode will become the default for Google Search “soon.” He mentioned this after Google redirected google.com/ai to the AI Mode interface on Friday afternoon.

Update: On Sunday, Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search, advised not to read too much into this change.

This was first shared on X around 7 p.m. ET on Friday.

Here’s his original post announcing the google.com/ai shortcut URL:

Before Logan posted, Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search, shared the google.com/ai shortcut about an hour earlier:

Google has made it clear that AI Mode is the future of Search. Sundar Pichai has said it will be integrated into main search, and Liz Reid, head of Google Search, has echoed the same vision. So this news isn’t surprising.

However, it’s still unclear if AI Mode, as it exists today, will truly become the default search experience. It’s more likely that Google will blend AI Mode with traditional search in some way.

AI Mode is now available in 180 countries, expanding beyond the US, UK, and India.

Over the weekend, Logan Kilpatrick hinted that AI Mode would be the default “soon,” but on Sunday, Robby Stein, VP of Product at Google Search, clarified that people shouldn’t read too much into that statement. It seems Google is focused on making AI Mode easier to access rather than flipping the switch to make it the default right away.