Google is retiring its classic search box design after 25 years. The company has unveiled a sweeping redesign of the interface, transforming it into a dynamic conversation starter that accepts text, images, PDFs, videos, and even open Chrome tabs as inputs. This change signals Google's shift towards multimodal, conversational search experiences powered by AI.
The new search box design will be rolled out immediately in all countries and languages where AI Mode is available. Users can now type complex queries, upload files, and drag content from Chrome tabs directly into the search interface. The company has also unified its AI Overviews and AI Mode features into a single seamless search flow, eliminating the friction that previously forced users to choose between traditional results and an AI-forward experience.
Google's decision to redesign the search box did not happen in a vacuum. The company shared usage statistics during the briefing, revealing how rapidly user behavior is changing. AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users in its first year, with queries doubling every quarter since launch. Overall search query volume hit an all-time high last quarter.
The new search experience runs on Google's Gemini 3.5 Flash model, which outperforms previous models on nearly all benchmarks while running four times faster in output tokens per second. The company is also introducing "generative UI" capabilities, allowing users to dynamically build custom widgets, interactive visualizations, and even mini applications in real time.
Google has announced a range of new AI-powered features and tools, including personal AI agents that monitor the web around the clock, customizable stateful experiences within search, and an intelligent shopping cart. These developments signal the company's pivot towards proactive AI systems that don't just answer questions but take actions on users' behalf.
