Google’s massive spending on AI is paying off, and that was clear at I\/O 2026.<\/p>\n
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On Tuesday, the tech giant announced cutting-edge products, like the AI agent Spark<\/a>, that bring it ever closer to its goal of delivering a super-intelligent assistant to its billions of users.<\/p>\n It also showcased soaring traction of its AI products<\/a> and significant advances in technologies such as AI video generation.<\/p>\n All that progress comes with risk. Google’s AI chief, Demis Hassabis<\/a>, said humanity is getting closer and closer to the “singularity,” the moment when AI begins to improve itself and outpaces human intelligence.<\/p>\n Google also isn’t quite as dominant in AI as it wants to be. It didn’t launch its biggest new model, Gemini 3.5 Pro<\/a>, as many had expected, and it’s still not quite at the bleeding edge of hot fields like AI coding.<\/p>\n With the conference’s first day over, here are five major takeaways.<\/p>\n The singularity is coming<\/p>\n Perhaps the most memorable quote from the conference comes from Hassabis.<\/p>\n “When we look back at this time, I think we will realize that we were standing in the foothills of the singularity,” he said during I\/O’s keynote speech.<\/p>\n Hassabis said that this will be a good thing, going against those in Silicon Valley who argue that AI will end up harming<\/a> or even exterminating the human race.<\/p>\n “This technology will be a force multiplier for human ingenuity and usher in a new golden age of scientific discovery and progress, improving the lives of everyone, everywhere,” he said.<\/p>\n Some in the audience gasped at the sweeping statement. One AI startup founder, whom I spoke with afterward, said he took a photo of Hassabis right as he made the statement \u2014 for posterity.<\/p>\n As evidence of AI’s potential, Hassabis touted Google’s new Gemini for Science, a set of AI tools intended to supercharge scientific research. Hassabis strongly supports the use of AI in science, which earned him a Nobel Prize in 2024.<\/p>\n Google overhauls Search<\/p>\n It wouldn’t be an I\/O conference without an array of new AI product launches. Google didn’t slack on this front, announcing a new AI agent, Spark, that can connect to email and execute tasks without keeping a laptop open.<\/p>\n Google announced a new AI model, Gemini Flash 3.5, optimized for AI agents and especially cost-effective.<\/p>\n The tech giant also announced the biggest-ever makeover of its main cash cow \u2014 Google Search<\/a>. It’s adding its latest AI mode features directly into the search box, while allowing new agents to search for users in the background.<\/p>\n Gemini 3.5 Pro is not ready yet<\/p>\n One letdown, which\u00a0drew audible groans\u00a0from the audience, is that Gemini 3.5 Pro isn’t available yet. Many had expected Google to launch its latest frontier model at I\/O.<\/p>\n Somewhat apologetically, CEO Sundar Pichai asked people to give Google until next month to deliver it.<\/p>\n “I know you can’t wait to get your hands on it,” Pichai said onstage.<\/p>\n The industry is closely watching Google’s big AI models, especially after Gemini 3 outperformed expectations and cemented its position as an AI leader.<\/p>\n Google burns through quadrillions of AI tokens<\/p>\n Google touted stunning numbers that showcased the rapid adoption of its AI tools.<\/p>\n Most notably, Pichai said that people worldwide now burn through 3.2 quadrillion AI tokens<\/a> a month by using Google’s products \u2014 that’s seven times as much as last year. Many people’s jaws literally dropped at the announcement.<\/p>\n Pichai bragged about other surging numbers.<\/p>\n Google’s Gemini app recently topped 900 million monthly active users, up more than double from 400 million about a year ago.<\/p>\n