Google begins testing a broader set of AI shortcuts on its desktop homepage, replacing traditional search buttons with options like ‘Create images’ and ‘Brainstorm’, signalling a shift towards more integrated AI-driven search experiences.
Google is testing a broader set of artificial intelligence shortcuts on its desktop homepage, replacing the familiar Search and “I’m Feeling Lucky” buttons for some users with options such as “Create images”, “Ask about files” and “Brainstorm”. The change places generative AI closer to the front door of the search experience and suggests Google is continuing to fold more Gemini-powered tools into core products rather than keeping them inside separate apps.
The new controls appear alongside the existing AI Mode button, Google Lens and voice search, with a plus icon at the left of the search field. That makes the homepage more of a multi-purpose entry point than a simple search box. According to reporting from Search Engine Roundtable, the features were previously more visible in the Google Search app and are now being tested on the desktop homepage for some users. The same report noted that these buttons were not shown in the intelligent search box Google demonstrated in May.
The expansion fits a wider pattern across Google’s consumer products. Google has been adding Gemini capabilities to Google Home, including AI-assisted camera understanding, clip captions and natural-language automation building, while also broadening access to “Ask Home”, a chatbot-style search tool for smart-home commands and summaries. That broader rollout shows Google is trying to make AI an interface layer across its services, not just an add-on.
For Google Search, the homepage test matters because it changes one of the company’s most recognisable surfaces. If the buttons stay, users may increasingly be nudged towards image generation, document queries and idea generation before they even type a traditional search. That would mark a notable shift in how Google presents search: less as a single query box and more as a menu of AI tasks.
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