Google just leapfrogged every competitor with mind-blowing AI that can think deeper, shop smarter, and create videos with dialogue

Google announced a sweeping set of artificial intelligence advancements Tuesday at its annual I/O developer conference, introducing more powerful AI models, expanding its search capabilities, and launching new creative tools that push the boundaries of what its technology can accomplish.

The Mountain View-based company unveiled Gemini 2.5 enhancements, rolled out AI Mode in Search to all U.S. users, introduced new generative media models, and launched a premium $249.99 monthly subscription tier called Google AI Ultra for power users — all reflecting Google’s accelerating AI momentum across its product ecosystem.

“More intelligence is available, for everyone, everywhere. And the world is responding, adopting AI faster than ever before,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, during a press briefing ahead of the conference. “What all this progress means is that we’re in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research are now becoming reality for people, businesses and communities all over the world.”

Enhanced reasoning: Gemini 2.5 models introduce revolutionary “Deep Think” capabilities

At the center of Google’s announcements is the continued evolution of its Gemini large language models, with significant improvements to both the Pro and Flash versions. The updated Gemini 2.5 Flash will be generally available in early June, with Pro following shortly after.

Most notable is the introduction of “Deep Think,” an enhanced reasoning mode for the Pro model that Google claims delivers breakthrough performance on complex tasks by using parallel thinking techniques. The company says this approach allows the model to consider multiple possibilities simultaneously, similar to how AlphaGo revolutionized game playing.

“Deep Think pushes model performance to its limits, delivering groundbreaking results,” said Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, during the press briefing. “It gets an impressive score on USAMO 2025, one of the hardest maths benchmarks. It also leads on LiveCodeBench, a benchmark for competition-level coding.”

The company is proceeding cautiously with Deep Think, planning to first make it available to trusted testers for feedback before wider release. This measured approach reflects Google’s emphasis on responsible AI deployment, especially for frontier capabilities that push the boundaries of what AI can accomplish.

Reimagining search: AI Mode expands with personalization and agentic features

Google is bringing AI deeper into its core search product, rolling out “AI Mode” to all U.S. users after previously limiting it to Labs testers. This alternative search experience uses a technique called “query fan-out” to break questions into subtopics and issue multiple simultaneous searches, delivering more comprehensive results than traditional search.

“AI Mode is our most powerful AI search with more advanced reasoning and multimodality, and the ability to go deeper through follow-up questions and helpful links to the web,” said Liz Reid, VP and Head of Google Search.

The company revealed impressive metrics around its existing AI Overviews feature, which now reaches more than 1.5 billion users. “In our biggest markets like the U.S. and India, AI overviews is driving over 10% increase in usage of Google for the types of queries that show AI overviews,” Reid noted during the preview.

New features coming to AI Mode include Deep Search for comprehensive research reports, Live capabilities for real-time visual assistance, and personalization options that can incorporate data from users’ Google accounts. This personalization, which requires explicit user opt-in, aims to deliver more relevant results by understanding individual preferences and contexts.

Google is making a significant push into AI-powered shopping experiences, introducing a virtual try-on feature that allows users to see how clothes would look on them using just a single photo of themselves. The technology represents a major advancement in making online shopping more intuitive and personalized.

“This is a situation where I found maybe five dresses that I like, and I see how it looks on the website and on the models there. However, I look nothing like those models, and I’m wondering which one will really work for me,” explained Vidhya Srinivasan, VP and General Manager of Ads and Commerce.

The system is powered by a specialized image generation model designed specifically for fashion applications. According to Srinivasan, it has “a very deep understanding of 3D shapes” and fabrics, allowing it to realistically render how clothing items would drape and fit on different body types.

Beyond visual try-on, Google is also introducing agentic checkout capabilities that can automatically complete purchases when items reach a user-specified price point. This feature handles the entire checkout process through Google Pay, showcasing how Google is applying its agentic AI capabilities to streamline everyday tasks.

Google unveiled significant upgrades to its generative media models, introducing Veo 3 for video generation and Imagen 4 for images. The most dramatic advancement comes in Veo 3’s ability to generate videos with synchronized audio — including ambient sounds, effects, and character dialogue.

“For the first time, we’re emerging from the silent era of video generation,” said Hassabis. “Not only does Veo 3 offer even more stunning visual quality, but it can also generate sound effects, background noises and even dialog.”

These advanced models power Flow, Google’s new AI filmmaking tool designed for creative professionals. Flow integrates Google’s best AI models to help storytellers create cinematic clips and scenes with a more intuitive interface.

“Flow is inspired by what it feels like when time slows down and creation is effortless, iterative and full of possibility,” according to a company statement. The tool has already been tested with several filmmakers who have created short films using the technology in combination with traditional methods.

Imagen 4, meanwhile, delivers improvements in image quality, with particular attention to typography and text rendering — making it especially valuable for creating marketing materials, presentations, and other content that combines visuals and text.

Immersive communication: Google Beam evolves from Project Starline research

The company announced that Project Starline, its experimental 3D video communication technology first showcased several years ago, is evolving into a commercial product called Google Beam. This technology creates the sensation of being in the same room with someone, even when communicating remotely.

“Google Beam will be a new AI-first video communications platform,” Pichai explained. “Beam uses a new state-of-the-art AI video model that transforms video streams into a realistic 3D experience.”

The system employs an array of cameras to capture different angles of participants, then uses AI to merge these streams and render them on a 3D light field display with precise head tracking. The result is a deeply immersive conversation experience that goes beyond traditional video calling.

Google has partnered with HP to bring the first Google Beam devices to market for select customers later this year. The technology also introduces speech translation capabilities that preserve voice quality and expression, allowing for natural conversations across language barriers — a feature that will also be coming to Google Meet.

Premium access: New Ultra subscription tier targets power users and professionals

To monetize its most advanced AI offerings, Google introduced a premium subscription tier called Google AI Ultra, priced at $249.99 per month. This tier provides access to Google’s most capable models, highest usage limits, and early access to experimental features.

“If you’re a filmmaker, developer, creative professional or simply demand the absolute best of Google AI with the highest level of access, the Google AI Ultra plan is built for you — think of it as your VIP pass to Google AI,” the company stated in its press materials.

The Ultra plan includes access to Veo 3 with audio generation, Deep Think mode when available, the Flow filmmaking tool, Project Mariner’s agentic capabilities, and 30TB of storage. It also comes bundled with YouTube Premium.

“The way to think of the Google AI Ultra plan is it’s almost like your VIP access to all of Google’s AI. So it’ll be special features, the highest rate limits. We’re also putting early access to products and features in there too,” explained Josh Woodward, VP of Google Labs and Gemini.

Google’s standard AI Pro subscription at $19.99 monthly will continue, with some features from the Ultra tier eventually making their way to this more affordable option.

Where research meets reality: Google’s AI vision takes shape

Google’s I/O announcements reflect a company at an inflection point, successfully transforming its vast research investments into products that could reshape how people interact with technology. The emphasis on agentic capabilities — AI that can take actions on users’ behalf — signals a significant evolution beyond the current generation of assistive AI.

“One of the things I’ve found magical, is particularly in search… people just intuitively adapt to the power of what’s possible,” Pichai remarked. “I think the big thing people are excited about is when you make [interaction] more natural and intuitive.”

For businesses and developers weighing AI strategies, Google’s expanding ecosystem offers powerful tools but requires careful consideration of integration pathways, costs, and data privacy implications. The company’s dual approach of embedding AI in core products while developing premium offerings suggests a long-term strategy to both defend existing markets and create new revenue streams.

As these technologies move from labs to everyday use, they underscore Pichai’s observation about the current AI moment: we’re witnessing the transformation of theoretical capabilities into practical tools that respond to how people naturally work, create, and communicate. The race to build truly helpful AI isn’t just about technical capability — it’s about bringing intelligence to the moments where we need it most, in ways that feel less like using technology and more like being understood by it.