Google has featured “AI Mode,” a new AI-powered search tool, on its homepage Doodle.

The animated Doodle directs users to the tool and includes an option to share.

AI Mode, launched in March 2025, offers answers to complex questions using Google’s Gemini AI model.

Users can access the feature through text, voice, or image input, aiming to streamline the search process.

The Doodle placement is a promotional move, differing from typical Doodles that honor events or figures.

This initiative highlights Google’s efforts to demonstrate its AI capabilities amid increasing competition from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Google has tested AI Mode on various parts of its interface since May 2025, including as a replacement for “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Google’s AI promotion reflects the high-stakes battle for AI search dominance

Google’s use of its homepage, arguably the web’s most valuable real estate, for AI Mode promotion highlights the intense competition in AI-powered search.

Recent data shows AI Mode has already reached over 1.5 billion monthly users since its broader rollout, while Google’s Gemini holds a 13.4% share in the AI chatbot market 1.

This homepage promotion is a direct response to emerging competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic, who are challenging Google’s search dominance with specialized AI offerings 2.

The strategic placement represents both a defensive move to protect Google’s core search business and an offensive play to leverage its massive scale advantage in the AI transition.

By prominently featuring AI Mode where users first interact with Google, the company is accelerating adoption of AI-driven search behaviors that could reshape how people find information online.

2️⃣ AI Mode represents a fundamental shift in the search ecosystem with measurable impacts

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