Google has launched its advanced generative AI-powered Search Live feature in India, making it the first country outside the US to receive this technology. This feature, integrated directly into the AI Mode within the Google Search app, allows users to ask questions about their surroundings using their phone's camera and engage in voice-based conversations with the AI.
The company also announced the expansion of AI Mode to include support for seven new Indian languages: Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Previously, the AI Mode was only available in English and Hindi. This expansion aims to make the AI-powered search experience more accessible to millions of users across India, enabling them to ask complex, conversational questions and receive detailed answers in their native languages. The rollout of these new languages will be phased, starting over the next week.
Search Live brings the advanced capabilities of Google's Project Astra directly into the AI Mode in the Search app. Project Astra utilizes Google's most advanced speech models, enabling it to understand and engage in long, natural conversations with users to perform multiple tasks efficiently.
With Search Live, users can interact with Search using their voice and camera to get real-time assistance based on what they are seeing. For instance, a user can point their camera at a collection of ingredients and ask, "What's the best way to combine these to make an iced matcha?" and receive immediate, step-by-step guidance. Google highlights that this feature is especially useful for hands-on activities such as DIY projects, troubleshooting, schoolwork, and travel planning.
To use Search Live in AI Mode, users can open the Google app and tap the 'Live' icon located under the search bar or access Google Lens and select the 'Live' option at the bottom of the screen.
Google's AI Mode, which was introduced earlier in the year, allows users to explore complex topics more deeply and ask questions that are three times longer than traditional queries. Powered by a custom version of Gemini, Google's AI model for Search, AI Mode breaks down queries into subtopics and conducts multiple searches on the user's behalf. Google has reported "incredible" adoption of AI Mode since its launch in India, with users leveraging it for various tasks, including academic research, writing, product comparisons, and travel planning.
The new language capabilities are powered by Google's custom Gemini model for Search, which is specifically designed to understand the nuances and context of local languages, rather than simply translating words.
Google says these updates demonstrate its commitment to making Search more intuitive, conversational, and accessible for everyone in India, allowing users to "truly ask anything".
