Google Unveils Personal AI Assistant and Gemini 3.5

Google has unveiled a sweeping set of artificial intelligence advances at its annual I/O developer conference, headlined by Gemini Spark — a 24/7 personal AI agent that proactively performs tasks on behalf of users. The announcements, made Tuesday at Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters, signal a major strategic shift from conversational AI to “agentic” AI that takes action rather than just answering questions.

According to NBC News, the new AI assistant, powered by Google’s latest Gemini 3.5 model, can sort through emails, manage notes, create documents, and automate workflows — all while running on dedicated Google Cloud virtual machines that continue working even when the user’s device is turned off.

The Agentic Shift

“We are firmly in our agentic Gemini era,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said during the keynote address. “I’ve played around with all sorts of agents and you can really see the potential, but it’s still early days when it comes to making agents easy to use, super secure and truly helpful.”

As TechCrunch reported, Gemini Spark is built from Gemini base models and an agentic harness from Google Antigravity. Unlike competing AI agents from OpenAI and Anthropic, Spark is deeply integrated with Google’s ecosystem — Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, and Chrome — giving it out-of-the-box access to the tools millions of users already rely on.

“It’s your personal AI agent that helps you navigate your digital life, taking action on your behalf and under your direction,” Pichai told reporters. “It runs on dedicated virtual machines on Google Cloud seamlessly, [so] you don’t need to keep your laptop open to make sure it’s running.”

Gemini 3.5 and Omni

The foundation for these advances is Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google’s latest model family focused on speed and agentic capabilities. The Associated Press reported that the model is four times faster than some competitors and surpasses Gemini 3.1 Pro in coding, agentic, and multimodal benchmarks, while being about a third to half cheaper than comparable models. It is now the default model for the Gemini app and AI Mode in Google Search.

Google also announced Gemini Omni, a new multimodal model capable of generating high-quality video from text, images, video, and audio inputs. The company said Omni’s videos appear more realistic than those from other models due to its understanding of physics — gravity, kinetic energy, and fluid dynamics. Gemini Omni Flash launched Tuesday for Google AI subscribers.

A Redesigned Experience

The Gemini app received a complete visual overhaul called “Neural Expressive,” featuring fluid animations, vibrant colors, haptic feedback, and new typography. According to Google’s official blog, responses now incorporate rich imagery, interactive timelines, narrated videos, and dynamic graphics tailored in real time.

A new Daily Brief agent provides personalized morning digests by analyzing Gmail, Calendar, and Tasks overnight to organize the day ahead. The feature begins rolling out to Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers in the U.S.

Search Gets Its Biggest Upgrade in 25 Years

Liz Reid, Google’s head of search, announced what she called “the biggest upgrade to the search box in 25 years.” The intelligent search box adapts to accommodate longer queries and offers AI-powered suggestions instead of traditional autocomplete. Users can also search using multiple modalities — text, images, video, files, and even Chrome tabs.

AI Mode in Google Search has surpassed 1 billion monthly users, with queries more than doubling every quarter since its launch last year.

Universal Cart and Smart Glasses

Google introduced Universal Cart, an AI-powered shopping cart that works across Google Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail, automatically finding deals and price drops. It launches on Search and the Gemini app this summer.

The company also announced two types of AI-powered smart glasses — audio-only and display — in partnership with Samsung, Gentle Monster, and Warby Parker, expected later in 2026.

User Growth and Investment

Pichai revealed that the Gemini app has grown from 400 million monthly active users in 2025 to over 900 million in 2026 — more than doubling in a year. Alphabet’s capital expenditures may reach $190 billion in 2026, reflecting the massive infrastructure buildout required for AI. The investment appears to be yielding returns, with strong quarterly earnings and an 11% stock price increase since the last report.

What’s Next

Gemini Spark begins rolling out to select testers this week, with a beta for U.S. Google AI Ultra subscribers expected next week. The $99.99/month Ultra tier offers the highest level of access to Google’s AI capabilities. Gemini 3.5 Pro, a more advanced version currently used internally, is expected to launch publicly in June 2026.

As Google moves deeper into the agentic AI era, the company faces significant questions about privacy, security, and trust — particularly around a 24/7 cloud-based agent with access to emails, documents, and browsing data. The company says Spark is designed to ask for permission before performing high-stakes actions like sending emails or making purchases, but whether users will embrace an always-on AI assistant remains to be seen.