Google Adds Gemini To Chrome After Dodging Forced Sale

Google is incorporating its Gemini artificial intelligence model throughout the Chrome browser, just two weeks after dodging an antitrust case that could have broken up the company.

Gemini, which Alphabet Inc.’s Google has been implementing across its products, will be added Thursday for Chrome users in the US. Among its tasks, the AI will respond to requests to provide explanations of the web pages visited, condense information across multiple tabs and even bring back some of the websites previously closed, the company said in a blog post. The tech giant is also integrating Gemini in Chrome with other Google apps, such as Calendar, YouTube and Maps, according to the blog post.

The push comes shortly after Google avoided a forced sale of Chrome following a federal judge’s ruling last year that the company had monopolized online search. Earlier this month, Judge Amit Mehta decided against a breakup of Google’s business, arguing that AI models represent a long-term threat to the search industry and already behave like search engines.

Now, Google — fresh off that win — is putting more resources into its search browser.

The Chrome browser is a natural place to infuse AI technology, said Rick Osterloh, senior vice-president of platforms and devices at Google. “We are evolving the browser to help you get the most from the web,” he said. “And we are doing it while keeping the speed, simplicity and safety of Chrome.”

As part of the rollout, Gemini will be able to answer complex questions through the browser address bar; detect scams; and quickly change saved passwords in sites such as Spotify and Coursera. Gemini’s add-on to Chrome will be available in the US in English, but Google expects to roll it out in other countries and languages later on, the company said.

In the coming months, Google said Chrome users will be able to hand off day-to-day tasks to Gemini, such as ordering groceries or booking a haircut. 

The company announced in May some AI summarization and research capabilities for Chrome at Google I/O, its annual developers conference last May, but those updates were limited to users on Google’s paid AI subscription plans and beta Chrome users.

The launch is the latest push by Google to weave Gemini into its product portfolio as well as pitch the service to enterprise clients. Although the tech giant has been making headway in the AI race, it still trails OpenAI’s ChatGPT by most estimates, Bloomberg has reported.