Google’s AI – Google says its latest AI rollout—starting with a new AI agent and making AI Mode the default in Search—will deepen AI features across core products. But for many young users, the same push is already meeting resistance, with surveys showing falling enthusiasm
When Google’s search bar gets its next AI overhaul. it won’t feel like a small tweak for people who’ve already been asked to adapt to a new tech era. At Google I/O. the company positioned artificial intelligence as the centerpiece of its developer conference and rolled updates into its core products—steps that now look set to bring more AI directly into everyday searching and app use.
The company’s search experience is about to change in a way that many users won’t be able to avoid. Google’s search head Liz Reid described the upgrade as Search’s biggest change since its launch more than 25 years ago. Google is pushing AI features deeper into the classic search bar. and much of the direction points to AI Mode—an experience available for more than a year—becoming the default Search experience.
The pitch is simple: stop forcing people to choose between AI tools and bundle everything into one experience. Instead of treating AI as an add-on, Google is aiming to make it part of the flow. The goal. the company’s product focus suggests. is wider adoption without users having to think about what to turn on.
Google also announced a new AI agent designed to run continuously. Spark is described as a 24/7 digital assistant that will run in Gemini and work across Google’s various apps and products. Josh Woodward. VP of Google Gemini. described Spark as being like “tossing things over your shoulder” so the AI can catch and complete what the user starts.
But Google isn’t opening the door to everyone yet. Google Ultra subscribers will get the first crack at Spark. The top-tier Google Ultra plan typically costs $249 a month, but Google is offering a new $100 monthly tier intended to get people on Spark.
For Google executives, adoption isn’t optional. Sundar Pichai said AI Overviews in Google Search has over 2.5 billion monthly active users. while AI Mode has more than 1 billion monthly active users. He also reported overall monthly usage of Google’s AI products has increased sevenfold since last year.
Even with those numbers, there’s a group Google may find harder to win over: Gen Z.
AI has become a hot-button issue for young people, especially recent grads. The tension has even spilled into public events. Recent commencement speakers. including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta. were booed when they discussed the tech. There was also an episode in which AI tried—and failed—to read names during a school’s graduation ceremony.
Survey data in the story shows the mood shifting. One survey found excitement toward AI dropped 14% among 14- to 29-year-olds over the past year. Another survey found nearly half of Gen Zers—44%—had undermined or resisted their company’s AI strategy.
What’s at stake is more than product preference. Google and other tech giants. the story points out. have bet heavily on AI and therefore need to keep pushing it onto users to drive adoption. But when a rollout is designed to become default behavior—pushing AI Mode into the core of Search and expanding into a constant assistant—resistance from even a single influential cohort can become harder to manage.
The rollout also sets up a sharper contrast: Google is describing higher engagement and massive usage. while many younger users are reacting with skepticism that’s no longer limited to theory. Spark’s early access pricing and the shift to a default AI Search experience may accelerate adoption for some. For others. the same momentum may feel like yet another step in a technology push they didn’t ask to be forced into.
Google I/O AI Mode Gemini Spark AI agent Google Search Liz Reid Sundar Pichai Gen Z AI Overviews Google Ultra monthly tier