Google, Microsoft Expand AI-Driven Search Capabilities

Google, Microsoft Expand AI-Driven Search Capabilities

• By David Ramel
• 03/17/25

The realms of search and AI are becoming increasingly intertwined, with AI models being used more and more for search — sometimes specifically — and with traditional search constructs being augmented by AI both on the internet and in enterprise systems. For example, Microsoft has used its partnership with OpenAI to leverage advanced AI in coding, search and just about everywhere else, while Google has been just as adamant in defending its search hegemony with advanced AI.

Recent announcements from both companies highlight a slough of AI capabilities for their search tools.

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode

Google last week announced it was "Expanding AI Overviews and Introducing AI Mode."

[Click on image for larger view.] AI Mode (source: Google).

AI Overviews are a major generative AI-driven enhancement to Google Search, providing AI-generated summaries at the top of search results. AI Mode, meanwhile, is a new experimental feature in Google Search that provides an all-AI experience, replacing traditional web results with AI-generated responses. It builds upon AI Overviews (formerly known as the Search Generative Experience, or SGE) and represents Google's push toward a more conversational and AI-driven search interface.

These features were framed in the context of Google's Gemini 2.0 update.

"As we've rolled out AI Overviews, we've heard from power users that they want AI responses for even more of their searches," Google said. "So today, we're introducing an early experiment in Labs: AI Mode. This new Search mode expands what AI Overviews can do with more advanced reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities so you can get help with even your toughest questions. You can ask anything on your mind and get a helpful AI-powered response with the ability to go further with follow-up questions and helpful web links."

In summary, key highlights of the last week's announcement include:

• Enhanced AI Overviews: Google is broadening the scope of AI-generated summaries, known as AI Overviews, to address more complex queries. By integrating the advanced Gemini 2.0 AI model, these overviews now offer improved reasoning and multimodal capabilities, enabling users to receive detailed responses to intricate questions.
• Introduction of AI Mode: This new experimental feature provides users with an AI-centric search experience. When activated, AI Mode delivers comprehensive, conversational responses powered by Gemini 2.0, allowing for deeper exploration of topics and more interactive engagements.
• Gradual Rollout: AI Mode is initially available to subscribers of Google One AI Premium in the U.S., with plans for broader accessibility based on user feedback and ongoing testing.

"The new AI Mode experiment in Search uses advanced reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities from Gemini 2.0 to help with even your toughest questions," Google continued. "You can ask whatever's on your mind and get an AI-powered response with the ability to explore further with follow-up questions and helpful web links. AI Mode does the heavy lifting for you, intelligently organizing information and gives you easy-to-digest breakdowns."

Microsoft Moves

Of course, Microsoft has been making AI search moves of its own, often focusing on developer tooling for AI-assisted search constructs or AI search within existing software. For example, it has been providing a steady stream of updates to its Azure AI Search initiative, formerly called Azure Cognitive Search. Microsoft characterizes Azure AI Search as the recommended retrieval system for building RAG-based applications on Azure, with native LLM integrations between Azure OpenAI Service and Azure Machine Learning, an integration mechanism for non-native models and processes, and multiple strategies for relevance tuning.