- The latest Google Chrome upgrade in the US adds a new sidebar that opens when you click the Gemini button
- Nano Banana can now edit images directly in Chrome browser tabs
- A new agent auto-browse feature can handle multi-step web tasks in the background
Google is turning Chrome into an AI-first browser for US users. With a new Gemini sidebar, built-in AI agents and Nano Banana image editing, the latest update lets Chrome understand what you’re doing across multiple tabs and even complete tasks for you in the background, marking the biggest shift in years to how the browser works.
Thanks to the recently announced Personal Intelligence feature, Gemini knows more about you than ever before, making it possible to be more useful and contextually aware in Chrome as well.
Alongside this, a new Auto Browse feature can take care of multi-step tasks like booking tickets or planning a holiday in the background while you continue to browse.
Here’s a closer look at the new features.
Gemini side panel
The most notable change in the new Chrome is the Gemini sidebar, which is always available no matter what tab you’re on. However, it is not forced on you – you still need to enable it. To do so, simply click on the Gemini icon in the top right corner of Chrome and the sidebar will appear like this:
Multitasking using the sidebar works by keeping your main work open in the primary tab while you handle a separate task in the sidebar. This is ideal for comparing options across different tabs, summarizing product reviews from multiple sites, or finding time for events across chaotic calendars, all using natural language prompts in Gemini.
Nano Banana photo editor
The upgraded Chrome also lets you use Google’s Nano Banana image generator without going anywhere else. This means that there is no longer a need to download images from web pages and then upload them to Gemini separately.
If an image is open in a browser tab, you can now write a prompt in the sidebar to change it using Nano Banana. If you e.g. find a living room design you like, you can ask Gemini to change the sofa or chairs – even by referring to items open in another tab. Everything happens inside the sidebar and is then available for download.
Here is an example:
Automatic browsing
Perhaps the most impressive new AI feature in Chrome is Auto Browse. This is essentially an AI agent that you can send out to perform multi-step web-based tasks, such as booking concert tickets or creating travel plans, while you get on with something else.
Auto Browse is designed to quietly take care of online admin. Instead of jumping between tabs, you can ask it to book appointments, collect tax documents, check if bills have been paid or manage subscriptions on your behalf. It can also handle more time-consuming tasks, such as collecting quotes from plumbers or electricians, submitting expense reports and expediting tasks such as driver’s license renewals.
AI agents in browsers are not new, Perplexity’s Comet browser is a good example, but they are fundamentally changing how we use the web by saving time. A common obstacle is that many booking sites require logins. Chrome solves this by using Chrome’s Password Manager to log you in automatically.
Auto Browse is designed to pause and explicitly ask for your confirmation or ask you to complete some task such as making a purchase or posting on social media. Auto Browse is currently rolling out in preview in the US for Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra subscribers
Here’s an example of Auto Browse in action:
Personal Intelligence and connected apps
The new Chrome makes use of Google’s recently announced Personal Intelligence feature along with Connected Apps. This aggregates information from across the Google ecosystem to add context and attention to your requests.
For example, if Personal Intelligence finds your child’s school name in your Gmail, it can figure out term dates, which is useful if you’re browsing holidays on different tabs and asking, “Which of these fits my kids’ spring break?”
Personal Intelligence also uses context from past conversations to deliver more personalized responses over time. The new browser also has new defenses designed to protect you from the latest security threats.
Using connected apps, you can also ask Gemini to send an email using your Gmail. Here’s how it works:
Is it too much AI?
By putting AI at the center of web browsing, the new Chrome feels like a natural evolution of Google’s most popular browser. With Gemini’s popularity rising over ChatGPT following the release of Nano Banana and Gemini 3, baking it directly into Chrome could give Google’s chatbot another boost and make users less likely to look elsewhere for AI tools.
Striking the balance between AI feeling crammed into products unnecessarily and it being genuinely useful is always going to be a tough call to make, but the fact that the new AI sidebar only appears when you click the Gemini button in Chrome helps make it feel less intrusive.
Gemini in Chrome remains a US-only feature for now, and the new features are rolling out today.
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