At its annual I/O developer conference on May 19, 2026, Google introduced Gemini 3.5 Flash, the first model in the Gemini 3.5 family, and recast Google Search around AI agents and generative interfaces. The announcements were positioned by chief executive Sundar Pichai as the beginning of what Google calls its "agentic Gemini era," and the rollout reached users globally within days of the keynote.
Model and benchmarks
<cite index="1-8">Google described Gemini 3.5 Flash as delivering frontier performance for agents and coding, with a focus on complex long-horizon tasks.</cite> <cite index="1-12">The company reported that the model outperforms the prior Gemini 3.1 Pro on several agentic and coding benchmarks, including Terminal-Bench 2.1 (76.2%), GDPval-AA (1656 Elo), MCP Atlas (83.6%), and CharXiv multimodal understanding (84.2%).</cite> <cite index="4-9">Google said 3.5 Flash generates output tokens roughly four times faster than competing frontier models.</cite> <cite index="6-15">Gemini 3.5 Flash is generally available via Antigravity, the Gemini API, Gemini Enterprise, the Gemini app, and AI Mode in Search.</cite> A larger Gemini 3.5 Pro is scheduled to follow next month.
Search redesign
<cite index="3-2,3-3">Google upgraded Search with Gemini 3.5 Flash as the new default model in AI Mode for everyone globally and introduced what it described as the biggest upgrade to the Search box in over 25 years, now reimagined with AI.</cite> <cite index="3-7">The new Search box accepts text, images, files, videos, or Chrome tabs as inputs.</cite> <cite index="7-33">Google is also combining AI Overviews and AI Mode into a single interface.</cite>
A central piece of the redesign is generative user interface (UI). <cite index="3-10,3-11,3-12">Search can produce custom generative UI, including visual tools and simulations tailored to a query, designing layouts and assembling components such as interactive visuals, tables, graphs, or simulations in real time; the capability is scheduled to be available to all Search users this summer, free of charge.</cite> <cite index="3-13,3-14">For recurring tasks such as planning a wedding or managing a home move, Search can build custom dashboards or trackers that users can return to over time.</cite> <cite index="4-15">Google said AI agents inside the Search box can handle tasks such as completing purchases, checking ticket availability, and managing schedules in real time.</cite> <cite index="4-17">Persistent "information agents" will run continuously on Google Cloud virtual machines, tracking user objectives and building personalized, interactive dashboards.</cite>
Scale and adoption
Pichai disclosed updated usage metrics that frame the Search overhaul. <cite index="17-8">AI Overviews now accounts for over 2.5 billion monthly active users, and AI Mode has surpassed 1 billion monthly active users.</cite> <cite index="2-22">Google said AI Mode queries have more than doubled every quarter since launch.</cite> <cite index="11-8">The Gemini app has crossed 900 million monthly active users, more than doubling from 400 million a year earlier.</cite> <cite index="17-2">Google said it processed 9.7 trillion tokens per month across its surfaces two years ago, rising to 480 trillion one year ago and over 3.2 quadrillion per month now, a sevenfold year-over-year increase.</cite> <cite index="11-5">More than 8.5 million developers are building with Gemini models monthly, and Google's APIs handle roughly 19 billion tokens per minute.</cite>
Agents and assistants
The model also powers a new persistent assistant. <cite index="1-5">Gemini Spark was introduced for Gemini Enterprise and Workspace customers as a 24/7 personal AI agent that takes action on a user's behalf under their direction.</cite> <cite index="7-15,7-16,7-17">Gemini Spark runs on virtual machines through Google Cloud, can operate without a laptop open, is accessible through the Gemini app with email and messaging options, and uses Gemini 3.5 Flash with Antigravity to work on long-running tasks in the background.</cite> Safety remains a flagged concern: <cite index="6-14">Google said Gemini 3.5 has strengthened cyber and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) safeguards and is better calibrated to engage with sensitive questions rather than refuse them outright.</cite>