Gemini in Chrome, a melding of Google’s AI assistant and its popular web browser, is rolling out to Windows and Mac desktop users in the US starting today, the company said in a blog post Thursday. Businesses will gain access via Google Workspace in the coming weeks. The rollout will only work if you have Chrome set to English.
Adding Gemini in Chrome allows you to have an AI assistant at your side during all online interactions. You can access Gemini via a new icon in the top-right corner of the browser.
Demo of Gemini in Chrome.
Gemini in Chrome is intended to streamline the online browsing experience: You can ask Gemini to summarize a YouTube video or have it compare prices between multiple shopping tabs.
“We are evolving the browser to help you get the most from the web — in ways we didn’t think possible even a few years ago,” Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of platforms and devices at Google, said in a press release sent by email. “And we are doing it while keeping the speed, simplicity and safety of Chrome that so many people love.”
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Having Gemini summarize web pages is handy, but the AI assistant will eventually do a lot more. In the coming weeks, Google’s rolling out agentic capabilities, empowering Gemini to do tasks on your behalf. For example, if you want to order a pizza, the AI assistant can browse a food delivery website, add the desired pie to your cart and wait for you to give final checkout approval.
Another powerful feature is its ability to make sense of multiple open tabs in Chrome. For example, if you’re hotel shopping and want to compare prices, Gemini in Chrome can analyze all the various hotel website tabs you have open and help you find the one that meets your needs.
Gemini will be built into the iPhone Chrome app. However, Android users will have a different experience. There won’t be a separate Gemini icon in your Chrome browser on mobile. Instead, Android users can hold the power button down to activate Gemini.
Looking back at your browsing history should also get easier with Gemini. Instead of perusing a long list of websites, you can simply ask Gemini to pull up the website from last week that had the walnut desk you were looking for.
Gemini in Chrome works with other Google apps, like Calendar, YouTube and Maps. So, if you’re watching a restaurant review on YouTube, you can ask Gemini to give you directions to that restaurant, and it’ll do so via Google Maps.
Google AI Mode, which is essentially an AI chatbot built into Google Search, will also be in Chrome. That’s where you can ask longer and more complex questions for deeper research.
Gemini in Chrome isn’t the first browser to integrate AI. Microsoft was an early player, bringing Copilot to Edge back in 2023. Perplexity launched Comet earlier this year, its own AI-powered Chromium-based browser. Reports from earlier this year also suggest ChatGPT creator OpenAI is working on an AI web browser.
Gemini in Chrome will bring AI-powered security, as well. Using Gemini Nano, a lightweight model, Google says it’ll expand protections to spot viruses or fake giveaways that trick users. Google said site notifications are becoming an annoyance, and Chrome will now be able to detect spammy or scammy ones.
Google’s AI models will essentially learn your preferences and automatically start blocking certain permissions. Whenever your password does become compromised, Gemini in Chrome will let you change it with a single click on supported sites, like Coursera, Spotify, Duolingo and more.
