After adding Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google is updating AI modes with four big features for Search Live (video using Google Lens Access), Canvas, and more.
In addition to text, you will be able to upload images and PDF files to AI mode on the web. The former is already available on mobile, while the latter allows you to “suggest detailed questions about these documents and bring that context into search.”
The uploaded files are analyzed and cross-referenced with “Related Information from the Web”. It will be unfolding steadily over the next few weeks and will support more file types (including Google Drive) in the future.
Like the Gemini app, AI mode gets a canvas feature that allows you to “build and organize your plans in multiple sessions of dynamic side panels that you update as you go.”
For example, if you want to create a study plan for future tests, you can simply ask for AI mode and tap the Create Canvas button to start.
Google places the canvas in AI modes that help you build study guides and planning trips so that you can ask follow-up questions and edit them by highlighting some of the generated text.
Soon, a new upload feature will also allow you to customize your study guide (or whatever you need to create) using context from a file, such as class notes and course syllabus.
It will be available in the next few weeks on the US desktop web for those registered in the AI Mode Lab experiment.
Another search lab feature is video input for the search live. After launching Voice last month, Google can display what you see in the real world in AI mode. With “Search” and “Translation”, you can use the new “Live” tab to launch from the latest Google Lens Redesign. Google is rolling out the video live with US testers this week on Android and iOS.
Finally, AI mode appears in Google Lens on desktop Chrome. Click on the Chrome address bar and you will see the “Ask Google About this Page” chip. This allows you to select a portion of the page and a regular AI overview will be displayed in the side panel. The “Dive Deeper” AI mode button will immediately appear at the bottom.
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