Google I Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and its Google subsidiary, opened the 17th annual Google I/O developer conference on Tuesday, evangelizing the transformational power of artificial intelligence, as he did last year and the year before that.
But amid all the hype, the Chocolate Factory leader did promise some new AI-related features and products for business users later this year.
Pichai began by remarking that the season of Gemini begins on May 20, adding, “I’m not really sure what the big deal is; every day is Gemini season here at Google.”
Gemini season is an astrological reference, while Google uses the term to refer to its family of AI models. But Pichai’s word play is fitting because AI, like astrology, has been sold based on belief.
That’s starting to change as practical applications become apparent. Pichai’s keynote emphasized results and benchmarks. “We are shipping faster than ever,” he said, perhaps mindful that on Monday, a few hundred miles north in Seattle, Washington, his Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella gave a similar spiel at the Build conference.
“We have announced over a dozen models and research breakthroughs and released over 20 major AI products and features, all since the last I/O,” said Pichai.
Pichai called out the progress of Gemini 2.5 Pro, its most advanced LLM, comparing its Elo benchmark score of 1448 to Gemini 2.0 Pro (1379), Gemini 1.5 Pro (1249), and Gemini 1.0 Pro (1111). “Today, Gemini 2.5 Pro sweeps the
“Gemini matches my typical greetings from past emails, captures my tone, style, and favorite word choices, and then it automatically generates a reply.”
=””
=””
=”” a=”” ai=”” all=”” almost=”” and=”” as=”” available=”” be=”” because=”” before.=”” being=”” better=”” but=”” can=”” communication=”” consumers=”” context=”” core=”” decide=”” delegated=”” did=”” do=”” docs=”” drive,=”” emails=”” felix.=”” finding=”” for=”” friend.=”” friends=”” friends,=”” gemini=”” gemini.=”” gmail=”” google=”” google’s=”” gubbins=”” he=”” he’s=”” honest,=”” href=””https://labs.google.com/search/experiment/22″” i=”” i’d=”” i’m=”” if=”” in=”” infatuation=”” is=”” it=”” it’s=”” itinerary=”” its=”” learn=”” looking=”” may=”” me,=”” mode=”” my=”” national=”” new=”” not=”” notes=”” now=”” of=”” offering=”” park.=”” past=”” personal=”” personalized=”” plenty=”” probably=”” product,=”” rel=””nofollow” ” remembers=”” replies,=”” reply=”” reservations,=”” road=”” scanning=”” search,=”” send=”” short=”” smart=”” something=”” sorry,=”” starting=”” subscribers,=”” such=”” summer=”” taking=”” target=””_blank” ” that=”” that’s=”” the=”” there=”” they=”” this=”” to=”” today.=”” trip=”” unhelpful.=”” up=”” us=”” users=”” utah=”” was=”” well.=”” who=”” will=”” with=”” work=”” you’ve=”” zion=”” -=””>a setting in Google Labs
with no word on how this might affect website traffic referrals.
“For those who want an end-to-end AI search experience,” said Pichai. “We are introducing an all new AI mode. It’s a total reimagining of search.”
Gemini is pretty good at telling you when you’re wrong
AI mode promises the ability to ask longer, more complex queries, one one might ask an AI model. Google is surfacing AI Mode as a new tab in its Search window, to be augmented by Personal Context once that arrives. And starting this week, Google Search will connect to Gemini 2.5.
Project Astra, a prototype AI assistant created by Google’s DeepMind AI research arm, has provided its camera and screen-sharing capabilities to Gemini, its personal assistant. A video taken by a tester of the service shows the AI assistant using vision capabilities to correct the tester’s inaccurate descriptions of objects encountered by wandering around a neighborhood.
“Gemini is pretty good at telling you when you’re wrong,” remarked Pichai at the conclusion of the video, who added that this capability is being rolled out to everyone using Gemini on Android and iOS today.
Google also announced new generative media models. Veo 3and Imagen 4provide video and image generation respectively. Lyria 2provides music generation capabilities – now it’s not just visual artists who have to cope with AI-generated competition. And there’s a new AI filmmaking tool called Flow. The biz also launched SynthID Detectora website to help identify AI-generated content. It’s a bit like a firearms maker running a trauma center.
“The opportunity with AI is truly as big as it gets,” Pichai said as he wrapped up. “And it will be up to this wave of developers, technology builders to make sure its benefits reach as many people as possible.” (r)
