Google is intensifying its efforts in the competitive landscape of AI-driven browsers. The tech giant has announced a host of new features that will deeply integrate its Gemini AI into the Chrome browser. Crucially, users will no longer need a membership fee to access Gemini in Chrome, which will start rolling out for both Mac and Windows users in the US from today. This move is part of a broader struggle among tech companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity, to capture consumer interest in AI-enhanced browsing experiences.
In a recent briefing with journalists, Charmaine D’Silva, Chrome’s director of product management, revealed that Google plans to enable Gemini in Chrome to perform “tedious tasks” for users in the coming months. These capabilities will allow the AI to manage grocery shopping, reschedule deliveries, set up hair appointments, and make restaurant reservations. D’Silva emphasized that there will be safeguards for any actions that are deemed “high-risk” or “irreversible,” although specific launch dates were not disclosed.
Additional features are set to be rolled out sooner. Starting today, Gemini in Chrome will gain access to Google Workspace for both regular and Enterprise users, along with integrations with other Google products such as Calendar, YouTube, and Maps. This enhances Gemini’s ability to “find relevant information on your screen and take action” using these tools, according to D’Silva.
D’Silva noted that enterprises are a key focus for Chrome’s development, highlighting the significance of these new integrations. On desktop versions of Chrome, Gemini users will be able to leverage the AI agent across multiple tabs to compare products, summarize content from various sources, and retrieve previously viewed pages from browser history. This means users can close tabs and later ask the AI to bring up their recent activities, making browsing more efficient.
“For instance, if you were exploring team-building activities and wanted to revisit them the next day, you could previously keep your tabs open. Now, you can close them and simply ask, ‘Can you show me those team-building activities I was looking at yesterday?’” D’Silva explained.
On the mobile front, while Gemini was already integrated into Android, users will soon be able to share the complete context of a webpage rather than just the current view, allowing for more in-depth queries. iPhone users will also gain access to Gemini through the Chrome app shortly.
The push for improved AI functionality within browsers has been underway for some time. Last year, Anthropic launched Computer Use, enabling its Claude AI to navigate the web and complete tasks. Shortly after, OpenAI introduced its Operator feature to achieve similar outcomes. In July, OpenAI unified its Deep research and Operator capabilities into an integrated tool known as ChatGPT Agent. Additionally, Perplexity debuted its AI-powered web browser, Comet, and Atlassian recently acquired The Browser Company, the developers behind the AI-enhanced browser Dia, for $610 million.
