In 2026, Google is focused on making AI actually useful


Google has spent much of 2025 adding arrows to its quiver as it builds its artificial intelligence, Gemini. She’s now focusing on how best to channel these arrows across a wide range of Android devices and software to help people find truly useful ways to use AI.

Google’s Gemini had a great year in 2025. It pushed itself into the creative AI space with industry-leading models like I see 3 videos and Nano banana. AI Mode introduced agent capabilities that enable AI Do your research. and Gemini 3 It showcased the company’s most advanced big language model to date, Arouse anxiety Between OpenAI and other competitors.

This year, Google hopes to build on the progress it has made in developing these popular models and capabilities to bring them into devices, whether Android smartphones, Chromebooks, Smart glasses Or even TVs. The ultimate goal is to focus on practical uses of AI. Sameer Samat, head of the Android ecosystem at Google, calls it an “artificial intelligence tool.”

“The utility of AI is really how I think about how the average consumer is going to experience this technology and say, ‘Wow, this is really powerful,'” Samat told CNET in an interview. Consumer Electronics Show 2026. “It’s something that makes me really happy to have this product or something I want to switch to.”

Read more: Best of CES 2026: 22 winners awarded by the CNET Group

Building practical uses for AI is certainly not a new idea for Google. In 2024, it was introduced Research circle On Android, which does exactly what the name says: you draw a circle on an image on your phone screen, and it uses visual intelligence to analyze it for relevant information, perform a Google search and bring up additional information. AI-powered improvements to spam prevention mean Android users Much fewer spam messages were reported (58%) compared to iPhone users, according to Google’s own research. More recently, hands-free capabilities have been added to Chat with Gemini While using Google Maps, which helps you find nearby parking or restaurants.

Android devices have seen a lot of artificial intelligence being added, but the idea of ​​artificial intelligence is not limited to phones and computers. Google has been steadily adding Gemini to TVs, for example, starting with Recommendations for what to watch.

In January, the company announced this Expanding AI integrations On TVs. Deep Dive can create custom multimedia presentations in less than two minutes on any topic you want. You can chat with your TV about anything, just like you would with a chatbot. AI-powered image editing, similar to the remix tools found in Google imagesis also making its way to the big screens. If you want, you can also create AI photos and videos from scratch using popular Google Forms.

Edit gemini on google tv remix

You can edit your photos with Gemini on your TV, if you want to see them on a bigger screen.

Google

Offering chatbot-like media and search capabilities is less about getting people to create AI images on their TVs, and more about meeting people where they are. If you love displaying your family photos on your TV, as a screensaver, you can take advantage of AI-powered editing tools to put your custom photo on it. Google said that all this comes in an attempt to make watching TV a more attractive and less passive activity In a live show At CES.

Another way to introduce more utilitarian AI tools is through construction Amnesty International agent Or artificial intelligence agents. This type of generative AI is designed to handle tasks autonomously, without the need for human supervision Request food delivery Or run the code. Right now, we’re “on the cusp of customers being able to do real tasks for us,” Samat said. Building this technology, beyond desktop and mobile applications, will be key.

“Some of the biggest needs for this type of functionality will come from other form factors, which may have smaller screens, or no screens at all, or where they need to be hands-free,” Samat said. This could be in the software inside the vehicles, Autonomous driving And so on, but it could also be inside Google’s smart glasses He said previously It is considered an integral part of the development of artificial intelligence.

Google’s focus on utility reflects a growing trend and movement toward the next stage of AI development. Let’s say we think of chatbots as an early version of the Internet, like AOL. Then the move toward personal and powerful AI tools is the new Google.

Artificial intelligence is no longer new. In 2026, all of us — the people who build AI and those who use it — must invest in finding tangible, productive ways to integrate AI. Although you may enjoy using Nano Banana, you also want Android’s AI to make your life easier.

“We believe this technology can move people from being curious about AI to using AI tools, and feeling that Android devices are useful, fun and exhilarating,” Samat said.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *