Google puts AI Mode beside webpages in Chrome, live in the U.S.

Google is turning AI Mode into a browser-side research companion, not just another Search results view. The April 16 Chrome rollout lets users open a webpage next to AI Mode, keep the search context visible, and ask follow-up questions about what they are reading. That changes the workflow from “search, click, return, search again” into a split-view loop where AI Mode travels with the page.

The source post says the feature is available on Chrome desktop when using AI Mode. Clicking a link opens the page side-by-side with AI Mode, so users can compare details, ask questions about the page, and keep the broader query context in view. Google frames examples around shopping, research, and long-form reading, where the user may need to inspect sources rather than accept a single generated answer.

Chrome is also adding recent tabs as input. On desktop or mobile, users can tap the plus menu in the New Tab page search box, or the plus menu inside AI Mode, and add recent tabs to the search context. The same flow can mix tabs with images or files such as PDFs. That matters because browser context is often fragmented across product pages, lecture notes, documentation, and research papers; Google is trying to make those open tabs part of the AI query rather than a pile of manual copy-paste.

The feature also puts AI Mode tools such as Canvas and image creation wherever the plus menu appears in Chrome. Google says all of these updates are now available in the U.S., with expansion to more regions planned later.

The broader shift is strategic. Search has been trying to keep users oriented while publishers worry about AI interfaces absorbing traffic. A side-by-side browser experience is a different compromise: the source page remains visible, but Google’s assistant sits next to it as the interpretation layer. The next question is whether this sends more qualified readers to sites, or trains users to stay inside an AI-mediated view of the web.