Google expands Personal Intelligence across AI Mode, Gemini app, and Chrome in the U.S.

Google said on March 17, 2026 that it is expanding Personal Intelligence in the U.S. across AI Mode in Search, the Gemini app, and Gemini in Chrome. The feature is designed to connect information across a person's Google services so answers can be grounded in that user's own context instead of relying only on a prompt. In the company's framing, the goal is to reduce the amount of background a user has to restate every time they ask for help and to make Google's AI surfaces behave more like a connected system than a set of separate products.

Google says Personal Intelligence can securely connect the dots across apps such as Gmail and Google Photos, then use that context to generate more tailored responses. The examples in the announcement are intentionally practical rather than abstract: shopping recommendations based on recent purchases and preferred brands, troubleshooting advice for the exact device model shown in purchase receipts, airport meal suggestions that account for gates and boarding time, and travel itineraries shaped by past trips, hotel confirmations, and personal preferences. Google also says the feature is now available to free-tier users in the U.S., and that people can decide which apps are connected and turn those connections on or off at any time.

The rollout matters because it extends personalization across three major Google entry points at once: Search, Gemini, and Chrome. That is a stronger signal than a single app feature. It suggests Google wants its AI products to compete on persistent user context and cross-surface continuity, not only on raw model quality. In other words, Google's advantage case is not simply that Gemini can answer a question, but that Google's ecosystem already holds the signals needed to tailor the answer to a person's actual purchases, travel plans, interests, and browsing flow.

What stands out

The feature is rolling out across Search, the Gemini app, and Chrome rather than staying inside one product.

Google is emphasizing everyday use cases such as shopping, tech support, and travel planning.

The company is pairing personalization with user controls over which apps are connected.

For users, the upside is less prompt work and more context-aware help. For Google, the strategic question is whether people will trust the company enough to link email, photos, receipts, and browsing context in exchange for convenience. That trust question will likely matter as much as the quality of the answers, because Personal Intelligence becomes more valuable only when users allow Google to connect more of their personal graph.