A hidden flag in Chrome Canary can route search queries straight into AI Mode, skipping the usual results page. Google hasn’t announced the experiment, and a code note suggests it’s only for exploration, with no current plans to push it live.
For people who live in search results—scan, click, compare—the switch is subtle, until it isn’t. In Chrome Canary, Google is testing an experience where a search query doesn’t land on the familiar results page at all.
Windows Report found a new hidden flag in Chrome Canary, Chrome’s most experimental browser variant aimed at developers and early adopters. When enabled, the flag takes you to AI Mode by default.
Under today’s regular Chrome search flow. Google takes you to an “All” page that includes an AI Overview summary of the results. After that, you’re presented with blue links that lead to individual websites. If you want AI Mode, you have to tab over. In the Canary test. that extra step disappears: the search lands directly in AI Mode. and the page looks and behaves more like a chatbot-style conversation than a typical Google search results layout.
Google hasn’t publicly announced this test. Still, the company has been adding more AI features across its products. At I/O 2026, Google launched a new “Intelligent Search Box,” designed to accept videos, images, files, and even Chrome tabs as inputs for search queries.
After that announcement, DuckDuckGo saw a surge in installs and usage of its no-AI search website—an apparent reaction from people who wanted alternatives that wouldn’t “try to force them to use artificial intelligence.”
If you want to try the Canary experiment yourself, the path is straightforward: open Chrome Canary, then go to chrome://flags. The new option is labeled “Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode.” Its description says it will work on Mac, Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS.
There’s just one catch. At the moment, Google doesn’t appear to have a concrete rollout plan. Windows Report says it found a note from the author of the flag’s code stating: “This is just for exploration. There are no current plans to push this live.”
The human impact here is simple and immediate: fewer clicks to get an answer, but less time spent browsing what’s out there. Even as Google tests that route in Canary, the message from the flag’s own code is clear—this is still a workbench, not a switch being turned on for everyone.
Google Chrome Canary AI Mode search AI Overview Chrome flags Intelligent Search Box I/O 2026 DuckDuckGo