Google Search starts rolling out access to AI Mode [Gallery]

Following yesterday’s announcement, Google is rolling out early access to Search’s new AI Mode experiment for Google One AI Premium subscribers.

Access

Anyone can join the Search Labs waitlist but access is first rolling out to paid subscribers . Once available, you’ll receive an email.

When you perform any Search, the filter carousel will show a new “AI Mode” button at the left to switch away from regular results and access the new experience.

On the web, you can also access AI Mode directly from google.com/aimode. This takes you to a chatbot-esque UI with an “Ask AI Mode” text field. One really delightful touch is how the text cursor cycles through the four Google colors. (This is also the case on Android and iOS.) 

On mobile, you can access AI Mode from a new button underneath the Search bar in the Home tab. It appears alongside the three Google Lens and Sound Search shortcuts. (We’re not seeing this just yet on Android.)

In the top-left or right corner, you’ll find the “AI Mode history” button. This takes you to a list of past queries, with the ability to return to searches.

Results 

There are delightful blue, red, yellow, and green animations throughout the experience, including when you use voice input and are waiting for results.

Your query appears at the top of the page, with the lack of a search bar above it quite strange after using Google Search for years. On mobile, Google will show a carousel of sources at the top and bottom, while it’s a right-hand card online. Meanwhile, most lines of the response feature a link icon. 

AI Mode accepts text and voice input (on mobile), but only outputs text. Camera input is not yet live today. The company is also working on “new capabilities and updates, like adding more visual responses with images and video, richer formatting, new ways to get to helpful web content and much more.”

From a UI standpoint, the experience feels very 1.0, with Google saying as much yesterday: “In this next testing phase, we’ll… rapidly make changes to the user experience based on the feedback we get.”

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