Google Injects Gemini Into Chrome as AI Browsers Go Mainstream

Google weaving Gemini further into the popular Chrome browser is an inflection point for AI in our software, although some users will still be looking for the “off” switch.

Google is adding multiple new AI features to Chrome, the most popular browser in the world. The most visible change is a new button in Chrome that launches the Gemini chatbot, but there are also new tools for searching, researching, and answering questions with AI. Google has additional cursor-controlling “agentic” tools in the pipeline for Chrome as well.

The Gemini in Chrome mode for the web browser uses generative AI to answer questions about content on a page and synthesize information across multiple open tabs. Gemini in Chrome first rolled out to Google’s paying subscribers in May. The AI-focused features are now available to all desktop users in the US browsing in English; they'll show up in a browser update.

On mobile devices, Android users can already use aspects of Gemini within the Chrome app, and Google is expected to launch an update for iOS users of Chrome in the near future.

When I wrote about web browsers starting to add more generative AI tools back in 2023, it was primarily something that served as an alternative to the norm. The software was built by misfits and change-makers who were experimenting with new tools, or hunting for a break-out feature to grow their small user bases. All of this activity was dwarfed by the commanding number of users who preferred Chrome.

Two years later, while Google’s browser remains the market leader, the internet overall is completely seeped in AI tools, many of them also made by Google. Still, today marks the moment when the concept of an “AI browser” truly went mainstream with the weaving of Gemini so closely into the Chrome browser.

The Gemini strategy at Google has already been to leverage as many of its in-house integrations as possible, from Gmail to Google Docs. So, the decision to AI-ify the Chrome browser for a wider set of users does not come as a shock.

Even so, the larger roll out will likely be met with ire by some users who are either exhausted by the onslaught of AI-focused features in 2025 or want to abstain from using generative AI, whether for environmental reasons or because they don't want their activity to be used to train an algorithm. Users who don’t want to see the Gemini option will be able to click on the Gemini sparkle icon and unpin it from the top right corner of the Chrome browser.

Before the end of September, Google also plans to incorporate its chatbot-style search feature, AI Mode, into Chrome’s address bar, which Google calls the Omnibox. This means users will have an AI Mode button and keyboard shortcut that uses Gemini and suggests prompts based on what’s shown on the web page.

This feature is optional and won’t replace a user’s ability to just run a regular Google search by typing a query into the address bar. Though generative AI’s looming presence does feel inescapable—you'll probably bump into an AI Overview at the top of those results anyways.

While they're not rolling out yet, Chrome users can expect to see agentic features come to the browser in the next few months. This basically means that a user could ask Gemini to complete a web-based task, like adding items to an Instacart order. Then, the generative AI tool will run in the background, attempt to choose groceries by clicking around, and then show you the results before you make the final purchasing decision. Aspects of this are similar to what Google has previously demoed with its Project Mariner experiment.

When I tried out a comparable agent feature released by OpenAI earlier this year, previously called Operator, the results were messy and fairly slow. The agentic experience felt akin to letting a sloppy ghost loose to haunt my browser. Based on my past tests of similar features, I’m skeptical these agent features for Chrome will feel like more than a parlor trick at release.

Year of the AI Browser

Throughout 2025, every major software release has had some kind of generative AI angle. Browsers are no different. Picture me doing my best Oprah impression: Your browser gets AI features! And your browser gets AI features! Yours too!

For example, a startup called The Browser Company had previously dabbled in AI browser tools for a couple of years with Arc. In June, the company released its rebranded browser, now called Dia, with a bevy of new AI integrations. Another rising startup, Perplexity, has focused extensively this year on launching a new browser named Comet that heavily incorporates aspects of its generative AI-powered search engine. It’s rumored that OpenAI also could eventually release its own version of an AI browser.

At the same time as the rollout of these new features for Chrome, the Gemini app for smartphones is at the top of the free download charts for iOS, right above ChatGPT, the previous leader. The app rose in popularity after the release of Google’s latest version of its image generator, called Nano Banana.

While early adopters who enjoy experimenting with new tools have probably already downloaded an alternative browser out of curiosity, Google putting Gemini inside of Chrome will likely be the first time millions of users have encountered AI-focused features like this in their browser. You can definitely expect to receive a call from your relatives in the next few weeks asking what the hell Gemini is.

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Posted Friday 19 September 2025 at 5:01 am AEST (my time).

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