Google kicks off developer conference season with Google I/O 2026 on Tuesday, May 19. Google has shared the initial agenda for I/O 2026. The main keynote is scheduled for May 19 at 10:00 AM PT (10:30 PM IST). The developer-focused keynote will take place at 1:30 PM PT (2:00 AM IST on May 20). The event itself takes place at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. This year, tech enthusiasts are expecting Google's artificial intelligence to be the headlining act, as Gemini gets integrated across the entire Google ecosystem of products. Google is expected to reveal the latest updates to Chrome, Android, Google Search, and Workspace apps like Gemini, Sheets, and Docs.
Also Read: Google Android Show 2026: Gemini Intelligence, Googlebooks, and All Major Announcements
A few weeks ahead of Google I/O 2026, the tech giant unveiled brand new AI features coming to the upcoming Android 17 operating system, including Gemini Intelligence, which essentially lets AI agents take control of your Android device and perform tasks autonomously. Other new Android features include more robust voice-to-text recognition, some autofill smarts, and enhanced digital well-being settings. The company also announced its new Googlebook platform for AI-first laptops made in partnership with companies like Acer, HP, Lenovo, and Dell.
Ahead of I/O 2026, Google and Blackstone have launched a major AI cloud venture focused on expanding access to Google’s TPU chips and AI infrastructure. Backed by a $5 billion investment, the partnership aims to meet rising global demand for AI computing power and challenge Nvidia’s dominance.
As part of this partnership, Blackstone is making an initial equity investment of $5 billion in the company, which will offer data centre capacity, operations, and networking, along with Google's custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as a compute-as-a-service offering.
The company expects to bring the first 500 megawatts of capacity online in 2027, with plans to scale significantly over time. Apart from TPUs, Google will also supply software and services to the new company. Google has previously signed multi-billion-dollar agreements with companies such as Anthropic and Meta to provide access to its TPUs.
As in past editions, the event will include several focused sessions highlighting updates across key products and platforms, including Google Chrome, Android, and Google Cloud. Chrome is expected to receive deeper integration with Gemini, bringing a range of built-in AI tools designed to make browsing more efficient. Google is also expected to showcase advancements in Android XR and Android 17.
Just days before the main event, Google hosted The Android Show: I/O Edition on May 12, providing an in-depth preview of Android 17. The presentation highlighted the OS’s transformation into an “intelligence system” with features like Gemini Intelligence integration, custom widgets, improved performance, better media capabilities, and enhanced support for large screens and desktop-like experiences.
It also touched on tools like a new OS verification feature to combat unofficial versions and broader ecosystem updates. This pre-event show handled much of the Android-specific news, allowing today’s I/O keynote to focus on broader AI and cross-product innovations.
Google I/O is important because it sets the direction for Google’s future products and technologies. It is where the company unveils major updates across Android, Google Search, AI, cloud services, and developer tools. For developers, it provides early access to new APIs, platforms, and frameworks that shape how apps are built and experienced.
For the broader tech industry, it signals emerging trends, especially in artificial intelligence and software innovation, that influence competitors and startups alike. Overall, Google I/O is a key event that showcases how Google plans to evolve its ecosystem and impact everyday digital experiences.
There's a reason why Google's default Gemini models have "Flash" in their name. Google wants its AI to be ubiquitous across its many platforms, including Android, which runs on a vast variety of devices. This is why many suspect that Google's new Gemini models – whichever version number they may carry – might prioritize speed over pure performance.
Right now, Google's Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is optimized for speed and is one of the fastest large language models out there, both if you count latency or total response time. Google is probably motivated to stay on top, so we're expecting serious updates on this front and some blazing-fast new models today.
Reveals from the show included Gemini Intelligence, which will take a more system-level approach to Android, Gemini-powered tools for the mobile Chrome browser, 3D emojis, upgrades for Android Auto and Google Maps, plus a "Pause Point" to help you take a break from doomscrolling.
AirDrop support will also be expanded to more phones, with Google launching a new QR code file-sharing feature that will let Android users transfer files to iPhone via the cloud. Just in case your device isn't compatible yet.
Google I/O is the perfect opportunity for Google to unveil a new numbered version of the AI, and we've been anticipating Gemini 4 for quite some time now. While we wouldn't know exactly what this update would involve, we can expect big things, including: a new interface, more multimodal features, better data analysis, and improved image and video generation.
While I/O may not be a hardware-focused event, there is still one lingering piece of hardware that hasn't been released, and now would be the perfect time to reveal an official date. Google Home Speaker was first teased last year. Google said the Google Home Speaker would be arriving in Spring 2026. Since Spring is currently ongoing, it's about time we got some concrete information. The last thing we need is for this speaker to become the next Galaxy Home.
Google has kept quiet about what I/O will have to offer, but it has teased a future of agentic AI. This means we may see it unveil some details about "Remy," the codename attached to Google's own personal AI agent.
According to reports, Remy is "your 24/7 personal agent for work, school and daily life, powered by Gemini." It will apparently be able to interact with other Google services and be more advanced than the agentic features Google has already started rolling out to the Gemini app. That means handling tasks proactively, learning your own preferences, and keeping track of things that matter.
Google is collaborating with several major partners, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Qualcomm, and Intel, to develop the GoogleBook PC across a wide range of configurations. This approach is aimed at ensuring strong performance options and flexible hardware choices for different types of users.
By working with multiple manufacturers and chipmakers, Google plans to make the GoogleBook PC accessible across various price segments. This strategy is designed to meet the needs of users with different budgets while offering a consistent and optimized computing experience.
The company is expected to introduce a new version of Project Astra, an advanced AI system designed to better understand complex queries. It is built to handle more natural, long-form conversations with users, allowing it to interpret intent more accurately and respond more contextually and helpfully.
With these upgrades, Project Astra is aimed at completing multiple tasks more efficiently through a single, continuous interaction. This makes it easier for device owners to manage everyday actions without repeatedly issuing separate commands, significantly improving speed and user experience.
Reports have also revealed several mysterious Gemini-related codenames in blind arena tests. The names include Ajax, Hercules, Hector and Orpheus. The models have not been officially announced, but their appearance suggests Google could be internally testing multiple AI models before launch. The new models are likely to be introduced at I/O 2026 today.
Google could also be preparing a bigger push into agentic AI with a new feature inside Gemini app called Gemini Spark, according to a report by 9to5Google. The feature is reportedly appearing for some testers inside a redesigned Gemini app and could introduce a dedicated two-tab layout split between "Chat" and "Agent".
Unlike the current Gemini experience, Spark could be capable of completing tasks on behalf of users. Leaked examples suggest it could automate everyday actions such as decluttering inboxes by summarising or archiving newsletters and unsubscribing from mailing lists, preparing meeting briefs with relevant context, and even creating personalised news digests that track stories over time.
Soon you will be able to create and edit Docs using just your voice, thanks to the power of Gemini. Docs Live is coming to Pro and Ultra subscribers this summer and the same capabilities will soon also be available to other Google apps in the future, Pichai said.
Sundar Pichai has officially confirmed that Gemini powered AI search functionality is also coming to YouTube. The feature is called ‘Ask YouTube’ and will be rolling out to users in the US this year.
Gemini Omni is Google's new AI model. It can simulate complex concepts like kinetic energy and gravity, and translate complex scientific ideas into digestible videos.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says Gemini Omni Flash is now available across Google products and more updates about the model will be available later in the year.
Google's AI-based coding tool, Antigravity, is getting a 2.0 upgrade with a focus on AI agents. This lets developers get more done in less time, offloading "complex tasks" to Gemini, which are all coded and tested at the same time using multiple sub-agents.
Google has officially unveiled Gemini 3.5 Flash, the first model in Gemini 3.5 series. During the I/O keynote, Sundar Pichai said the company has been focused on improving Gemini around agentic coding, long-horizon tasks and real-world workflows.
Pichai said Gemini 3.5 Flash performs better than Gemini 3.1 Pro across most benchmarks while delivering major gains in coding capabilities. The second key upgrade is speed. Google says Gemini 3.5 Flash delivers performance comparable to other leading frontier AI models while being significantly faster. According to Pichai, the model can generate output at nearly four times the speed of competing frontier systems.
SynthID, Google's tool for identifying AI-generated content, is being adopted by Nvidia, OpenAI, Kakao, and ElevenLabs. That's pretty big news given that the Google project is now being embraced across the industry, including by one of Google's biggest AI rivals. It's a significant and rare moment of cross-company alignment on one of the thorniest problems in AI.
Pichai is now back to announce Gemini Spark, a new personal AI agent. He gives the stage to Josh Woodward to demo Spark. It's a 24/7 remote agent, meaning it can run tasks even when you're away from the computer. This is a personal AI agent that will carry out tasks for you - probably what was called Remy in earlier leaks. It's powered by Gemini 3.5 and it runs on private Google Cloud servers in the background, so it will keep working even when you're not. It's divided into tasks and allows you to manage what Spark is doing for you. Spark will carry out complex tasks, the example is planning a block party. It can create a spreadsheet to track replies, it can auto-update Docs and it can be tasked to do things like track the RSVPs and email reminders - while also compiling who is bringing what.
Google is launching a new search box. Liz Reid, VP of Search said this new interface goes beyond autocomplete, with AI-generated suggestions. It also natively multi-modal, allowing you to upload photos and videos as part of your queries. Google is launching this today. This is basically the equivalent of Google's smart replies but inside the search box.
“You will be able to create, customize, and manage multiple AI agents for your many tasks, right in Search,” says Liz Reid.
Google showed how Gemini Spark, its new personal AI agent in the Gemini app, could help plan a block party by working across apps in the background.
In the demo, Spark pulled together RSVPs, tracked who was bringing what, drafted follow-up emails to neighbors who hadn't responded and created a live RSVP tracker in Google Sheets. It also generated a Google Slides "hype deck" for the party, complete with details like a bounce house and neighborhood rules pulled from a file in Google Drive.
Essentially, you can hand Spark a messy planning task, let it work in the background and approve any important actions before they happen.
Google announced Universal Cart, an AI-powered shopping cart that works across Google services, including Search and the Gemini app, with YouTube and Gmail support coming at a later time.
The idea is that you can add products to one cart while browsing Search, chatting with Gemini, watching YouTube or reading Gmail. From there, Google says the cart can track deals, monitor price drops, show price history, alert you when items are back in stock and even flag compatibility issues, like if you're building a custom PC and a certain part isn't compatible.
Google is also combining AI Overviews and AI Mode into a more unified experience. Users will now be able to move seamlessly between traditional search results, AI-generated answers and follow-up conversations without losing context. According to Google, the deeper users go into conversations, the more relevant links and sources become. The updated AI search experience is rolling out globally today across desktop and mobile devices.
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