Google has unveiled its new Gemini 2.0-powered AI Overviews in the US, promising quicker and higher-quality responses for complex queries, including coding, advanced mathematics, and multimodal searches. The company reports that over a billion people are "using" AI Overviews, largely due to its automatic integration into searches.

Expansion of AI Overviews Previously, users could avoid AI Overviews by searching while logged out of their Google accounts. However, Google has now extended AI Overviews to include teens and users who are not signed in, eliminating that workaround. This change means more users will have to interact with AI Overviews, regardless of their preference.

AI Mode: An Experimental Search Feature Google is also launching AI Mode, an opt-in feature available through Search Labs. Building on AI Overviews, AI Mode includes advanced reasoning, comparisons, and multimodal capabilities. This new search tab allows users to ask detailed questions, follow up on responses, and access helpful web links.

Using a customized version of Gemini 2.0, AI Mode is designed for queries that require deeper exploration. However, users might still need to perform multiple searches to ensure accuracy, as Google acknowledges potential biases and opinion-based responses.

Future Enhancements and Testing Google plans to enhance AI responses with more visuals, videos, and richer formatting. The first users to test AI Mode will be Google One AI Premium subscribers, with broader availability expected later.

As AI integration in search rapidly expands, concerns about its accuracy, reliability, and objectivity persist, making real-world testing an essential phase before full deployment.