source: techcrunch ai: google’s ai mode now lets you link and interact with select apps
level: business
google announced that its ai mode, a conversational search tool, can now link and interact with select apps. at launch, supported apps include instacart, canva, and youtube. this update moves ai mode beyond answering questions to completing tasks within apps users already use. google likely hopes this will increase reliance on ai mode for planning and shopping, while also competing with chatgpt and claude, which offer similar app integrations.
users can connect their instacart account to add ingredients from a grocery list directly to a cart and check out. for design projects, canva can show template selections. ai mode can also curate a playlist and save it to youtube music. the feature is rolling out to u.s. users, with more apps planned. this builds on a previous capability that lets users connect third-party apps to the gemini app for faster task completion.
since launching in early 2025, ai mode has added features like checking in-store stock and side-by-side web exploration for comparisons. earlier this year, google introduced personal intelligence, which uses gmail and google photos for individualized responses. these updates show a steady expansion of ai mode's capabilities, aiming to make it a more integrated part of daily digital tasks.
why it matters: this integration lets ai directly act on user requests across apps, reducing friction in everyday tasks like shopping and content creation.
source: techcrunch ai: google’s ai mode now lets you link and interact with select apps