Google's annual I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California, served as a powerful stage for CEO Sundar Pichai to highlight the company's advancements in Artificial Intelligence and its renewed focus on hardware innovation. Pichai emphasized the rapid global adoption of AI and unveiled Google’s latest AI-powered products, including a glimpse into the future with its Android XR smart glasses.
Pichai underscored that AI adoption is happening "faster than ever before". He noted a dramatic increase in the usage of Google's AI models, stating that the company is now processing over 480 trillion tokens a month across its products and APIs, a 50-fold increase compared to the previous year. Furthermore, over 7 million developers are building with Gemini, five times more than the previous year, and Gemini usage on Vertex AI is up 40 times. The Gemini app boasts over 400 million monthly active users, demonstrating the widespread integration of Google's AI across its ecosystem.
The advancements in Google's Gemini models were also a focal point. Pichai announced Gemini 2.5 Pro, which he claimed sweeps the LMArena leaderboard in all categories. He attributed this progress to Google's infrastructure, highlighting their seventh-generation TPU, Ironwood, designed specifically for AI workloads. According to Pichai, Ironwood delivers ten times the performance of the previous generation while significantly reducing model prices.
Google is also integrating AI deeper into its search capabilities. The AI Overviews, launched last year, are now available to over 1.5 billion users across 200 countries and territories. Pichai reported that users are more satisfied with their search results when using AI Overviews, leading to increased search frequency. In major markets like the U.S. and India, AI Overviews are driving over 10% growth in the types of queries that display them, marking it as one of the most successful launches in Search in the past decade. Furthermore, Google is launching an end-to-end AI Mode in Search within the US, enabling users to input long prompts directly. This AI Mode uses a "query fan-out technique," breaking down questions into subtopics and issuing multiple queries simultaneously.
Beyond software, Google offered a sneak peek at its vision for augmented reality with the unveiling of new Android XR-powered smart glasses, developed under the codename "Project Aura". These glasses are designed for everyday wearability and style, a departure from the less fashionable Google Glass of the past. Google is partnering with eyewear brands like Samsung, Gentle Monster, and Warby Parker to create stylish options.
The smart glasses are powered by Gemini AI and feature a large field of view, built-in cameras, and microphones. They can sync with a smartphone to access apps and include speakers and an optional in-lens display for private information viewing. Google showcased a live translation demo where individuals speaking Farsi and Hindi had their conversations translated into English in real-time through the glasses. While the demo experienced some technical difficulties, it highlighted the potential of the technology.
Google is also exploring the use of AI in other areas, such as video communication. Google Beam, evolved from Project Starline, is an AI-first video communication platform that aims to create a natural, free-flowing conversation across languages by translating spoken languages in real-time. Additionally, Google showcased VEO 3, its updated video generation platform with native audio generation capabilities, and Imagen 4 for upscaled image generation.
To cater to power users, Google announced an "AI Ultra Plan" for $249.99 per month. This subscription provides users with higher AI limits and early access to experimental tools like Project Mariner, a browser extension that automates keystrokes and mouse clicks, and Deep Think, a version of Gemini designed for complex reasoning tasks. The plan also includes 30 terabytes of cloud storage and an ad-free YouTube subscription.
Overall, Google I/O 2025 underscored Google's commitment to AI innovation and its integration across its product ecosystem. From advancements in AI models and search capabilities to the revival of smart glasses and new AI-powered tools, Google is aggressively pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI.
