Google is bringing its conversational search experience closer to your thumb.
On Nov. 5, 2025 the company added a dedicated “AI Mode” shortcut to Chrome’s New Tab page on iOS and Android, placing a pill-shaped button under the search bar that opens Google’s Gemini-powered AI search interface. The change, announced on Google’s Chrome blog, is available in the United States immediately and will roll out to more countries and languages in the coming weeks via the company’s staged expansion.
What’s new in Chrome mobile
According to Google, the AI Mode button is intended to make it faster to ask complex, multi-part questions and follow up without leaving the browser. The shortcut sits next to an Incognito button on the New Tab page and mirrors functionality that has already appeared on desktop and in the Omnibox earlier this year. Nick Kim Sexton, Senior Product Manager for Chrome, said the feature helps users “ask more complex, multi-part questions, and then dive even deeper into a topic with follow-up questions and relevant links.”
Google says the mobile shortcut will soon reach roughly 160 additional countries and expand language support to include Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and more. Users can also access AI Mode directly at https://www.google.com/aimode.
Agentic features: booking gets more capable
Alongside the UI change, Google has broadened AI Mode’s so‑called agentic capabilities. After introducing the ability to find and book restaurant reservations in August, AI Mode can now handle booking event tickets and beauty and wellness appointments. These actions are done via live web browsing powered by Google’s Project Mariner — the system that lets the model fetch up‑to‑date information and interact with external sites.
Initially some agentic features were limited to paid subscribers; Google says event- and appointment‑booking is available to any user who opts into the “Agentic capabilities in AI Mode” Labs experiment. AI Pro and Ultra subscribers receive higher usage limits.
How people use AI Mode — and how to manage it
AI Mode blends search with a conversational interface. Users can type or speak queries, upload images or files, and pursue follow-up questions in a running dialog. Results surface summarized answers alongside links to source pages, a history sidebar lets you revisit past sessions, and ratings feedback (thumbs up/down) helps Google gather signal on quality.
Google and outside guides note practical controls: you can delete individual AI Mode interactions or clear the entire AI Mode history from the AI interface or from your Google account activity controls. However, Popular Science and others point out there is no global “turn off AI Mode” switch — the option is to avoid the interface and use classic Search instead.
Benefits and friction
Proponents say the mobile shortcut lowers the barrier to using conversational, research‑style queries on the go, and agentic capabilities remove friction when completing tasks like buying tickets or scheduling services. For users, that can translate into fewer app switches and a faster path from question to action.
But the rollout also highlights enduring concerns about generative AI. Google itself acknowledges AI responses can include mistakes, and reviewers have flagged problems such as confident hallucinations, attribution and copyright questions, and broader energy and ethics debates around AI models scraping web content. Some users voiced preference for classic search interfaces and controls to hide or limit visible AI elements.
Why this matters
Google’s move brings AI Mode further into the mainstream: embedding a conspicuous shortcut into Chrome’s mobile front door steers daily queries toward a conversational interface and raises the likelihood users will rely on AI features rather than traditional link‑based search or third‑party chat‑based rivals. It also signals continued investment in agentic tooling — not just summarizing information but taking actions on users’ behalf.
For regulators and privacy-minded users, the expansion will renew scrutiny over how models gather live web data, attribute sources, and store or use interaction history. For competitors, the change represents a push by Google to keep search activity anchored to its ecosystem.
What to watch next
Expect Google to continue expanding language and country availability, refine agentic limits for paid and experiment participants, and iterate on safety and attribution. Users who want to try the feature can access AI Mode at google.com/aimode or watch for the new New Tab shortcut in Chrome. Those wary of generative‑AI answers should compare responses against primary sources and use Google’s history controls to manage stored interactions.
As AI interfaces become a routine part of mobile browsing, the balance between convenience and accuracy will shape whether users embrace AI Mode as a helpful assistant or treat it as an optional experiment.