GOOGLE I/O 2026: EVERYTHING ANNOUNCED, EXPLAINED

GEMINI 3.5 FLASH

Google's newest and fastest AI model. Despite being in the "Flash" (cheaper/faster) tier, it outperforms Gemini 3.1 Pro on coding and agentic benchmarks. That's a meaningful inversion: the cheaper model is now beating the premium one on the tasks developers actually use AI for.

Runs behind most of Google's new products announced at I/O. Also available directly to developers building their own apps and tools. Who gets it: Everyone. Available now for Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers. Developer pricing: $1.50 per million input tokens, $9.00 per million output tokens, roughly 40% cheaper than Gemini 3.1 Pro. Consumer pricing: Included in all paid plans from $7.99/month.

GEMINI 3.5 PRO

The full-power version of the 3.5 model family, above Flash in capability.

Heavy reasoning, research, complex multi-step tasks where you need the strongest model, not the fastest. Who gets it: Not yet available. Sundar Pichai said it would arrive next month. Pricing: Not yet disclosed.

GEMINI OMNI FLASH

A multimodal model that works across text, images, video, audio, and other input types in one unified system. You can feed it basically anything and have a conversation about it.

Editing a video by talking to it, analysing a document you photographed, creating visuals from voice descriptions.

Available now for Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers. Pricing: Included in all paid plans.

GEMINI SPARK

A 24/7 personal AI agent that runs on Google's cloud servers, not on your device. It keeps running even after you close your laptop or lock your phone. It monitors your Gmail, manages your Calendar, and drafts documents in Google Docs without you being actively present.

Set recurring tasks like automatically parsing monthly credit card statements to flag subscription fees. Teach it to check your inbox for school updates from your kids and send a daily digest. Ask it to synthesise raw meeting notes from emails and chats, create a polished Google Doc, and draft the follow-up email. You can also teach it custom skills for specific workflows.

Rolling out to trusted testers now, with beta access going to US Google AI Ultra subscribers next week. Pricing: Included in the AI Ultra plan ($100/month). Asks your permission before taking high-stakes actions like sending emails or spending money.

DAILY BRIEF

A lighter version of agentic Gemini that does not run 24/7 but delivers a morning summary. It gathers urgent updates from your Gmail inbox, tracks upcoming events from your Calendar, and compiles relevant follow-up details into a skimmable briefing. It actively organises and prioritises based on your specific goals, even suggesting immediate next steps.

Start your day without digging through your inbox. Get a prioritised to-do list generated automatically.

Rolling out now to Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers in the US. Pricing: Included in all paid plans from $7.99/month.

AI-POWERED SEARCH BOX

The Google Search box has been rebuilt around Gemini. It now supports images, files, videos, and Chrome tabs as inputs alongside text, and is designed to better anticipate intent and help users form questions. Think of it as Search evolving from keyword lookup to a conversation.
Paste a screenshot of a product, ask a multi-sentence question in plain English, attach a file and ask questions about it, all directly in the search box.

Deploying now in all languages and countries where AI Mode is available. Pricing: Free.

ASK YOUTUBE

A Gemini-powered feature built into YouTube that lets users ask questions about videos, with support for context and follow-up questions. Instead of scrubbing through a video to find the answer to a specific question, you ask and it finds it.

"What supplement did they mention at the 12 minute mark?" or "Summarise the arguments in this debate." Particularly useful for long-form content, tutorials, and educational videos.

Currently in testing, rolling out broadly in the US this summer. Pricing: Not yet confirmed, likely tied to paid plans.

UNIVERSAL CART

A single shopping cart that follows you across Google Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail. The moment you add a product, it works in the background to find deals, track price history, alert you to price drops, and flag stock availability. It also flags product incompatibilities, for example warning you that a motherboard and processor you added are not compatible.

You see a product mentioned in a YouTube video, add it to your cart without leaving YouTube, and the cart automatically tracks it for a week until it goes on sale.

Rolling out across Search and the Gemini app this summer, with YouTube and Gmail to follow. Pricing: Free, built on Google Wallet.

ANDROID HALO

A persistent visual indicator at the top of your Android screen that shows what AI agents are actively doing in the background at any given moment. As agents become capable of running tasks independently, this tells you what they are doing without you having to check.

Glance at the top of your phone and see that Gemini Spark is drafting your meeting recap or that an agent finished booking a restaurant. Oversight without micromanagement.

Coming with Android 17 later this year. Pricing: Free, part of Android 17.

GOOGLE PICS

A new image creation and editing tool inside Google Workspace, similar to Canva, for building posters, flyers, and infographics. It treats every element as an individual object rather than a flat image, so you can swap or edit specific details without redoing the whole thing. All output is watermarked with SynthID.

A small business owner creates a promotional flyer by describing it in plain text. A marketing team edits individual elements of a graphic without going back to a designer.

Rolling out this summer to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. Pricing: Included in Pro ($19.99/month) and Ultra ($100/month).

STITCH

Google's design tool for building apps and websites, updated with real-time collaborative design via Stitch Agent. Now includes exports to Antigravity and direct publishing to Netlify.

A team designs a web app together in real time, then publishes it directly without switching tools.

Available now for developers. Pricing: Not separately disclosed.

GOOGLE FLOW

Google's creative studio for video and media work, now updated with Gemini Omni and multi-action AI agents. Includes custom tools via Flow Tools.

Filmmakers and content creators running multi-step production workflows, like generating footage, editing, and scoring, with agents handling parallel tasks simultaneously.

New features available now. Pricing: Not separately disclosed.

ANDROID XR GLASSES (SAMSUNG, WARBY PARKER, GENTLE MONSTER)

Audio glasses that provide all-day Gemini access with responses spoken privately into the wearer's ear. Can take photos, play music, handle calls, and access apps. Compatible with both Android and iOS.

Hands-free translation when travelling, getting directions without looking at your phone, receiving a briefing spoken in your ear before a meeting.

Launching this fall. Pricing and full specifications still to be confirmed.

XREAL PROJECT AURA

Display glasses with actual OLED lenses, not just audio. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and capable of a 70-degree field of view. These show information visually overlaid in your field of vision.

See real-time directions overlaid on the street in front of you, read a translation of a menu without looking down at your phone. Who gets it: Shown at I/O, no release date or pricing confirmed yet.

GOOGLE ANTIGRAVITY 2.0

Google's developer platform for building AI agents. Rebuilt to be agent-first, meaning it is designed from the ground up for apps that do things autonomously, not just apps that answer questions.

Developers building tools that automate workflows, run tasks overnight, connect to APIs, and manage multi-step processes without user input at each step.

CLI, SDK, and Native Voice Support available globally from May 19. Pricing: Free via Google AI Studio.

SUBSCRIPTION PRICING (UPDATED)

AI Plus: $7.99/month. Includes Gemini 3.5 Flash, the Gemini app with Omni, and Daily Brief.

AI Pro: $19.99/month. Higher usage limits, more storage, Google Workspace integration, Google Pics later this summer.

AI Ultra: $100/month (was $250). Includes 5x higher usage limits than Pro, 20TB cloud storage, YouTube Premium, and Gemini Spark beta access starting next week for US subscribers.

Google is also replacing daily prompt limits with a compute-used model, where a simple text message costs less of your monthly allowance than a complex video editing or coding request. You pay proportionally to how much you actually use.

Here is the complete I/O video

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