This Wednesday, March 5, 2025 is a day to mark with a white stone in the world of tech. In a blog post, Google has just announced the arrival of a new tab located alongside the Images or News tab for example. This tab is the AI mode and it changes absolutely everything for Google.
AI Mode, a new approach to research
Designed to offer answers entirely generated by AI, the ”AI Mode” option (this is the official name, the official translation does not yet exist) is in line with services such as ChatGPT Search or Perplexity. The goal? To provide users with more complete, relevant results, and adapted to complex questions that would have required several requests or a lot of time scrolling on the results page before.
Let’s be a little more specific. When you perform your Google search in AI mode, you no longer see the long list of websites you are used to. Google’s AI does the research for you by surfing multiple websites at the same time in order to provide you with a complete and sourced answer in one go. If you want more details or have questions about the result obtained, you can ask the AI like a classic chatbot.
Let’s say you’re looking for a walkthrough on GTA VI for example. Well, rather than typing your question into Google and then coming across a video game news story, then scrolling through the news until you get what you want, you’ll just have to switch to AI mode. Google will read the video game news story in question, but also similar articles from our competitors to provide you with a more direct, complete and relevant answer. You’ll have the solution to your problem in an instant, potentially augmented with images or tables, without getting lost in scrolling, without closing 3 ads. Yes, this threatens all free sites.
A powerful model: Gemini 2.0 at the heart of the project
To power this unique user experience, Google is relying on a customized version of its Gemini 2.0 model, specially designed for the search engine. And Gemini 2.0 is a truly robust AI. Thanks to its advanced multimodal reasoning capabilities, this model is capable of answering complex queries on just about any topic. We repeat it because it’s important: the results obtained are reliable and sourced, with links to external sites.
In its blog post, Google presents a complete use case that directly attacks the business model of tech news sites like ours. The company shows that if you are looking for a sleep tracking bracelet or any other product, you will no longer have to surf through 15 different tests and buying guides. The AI mode will do the research for you and present a final comparison in a clear and intuitive table.
Will AI Completely Replace Traditional Websites?
As you can see, an upheaval seems to be underway. Given the efficiency of GPT Search, which I have personally adopted for a while now, I think that AI mode will become the new Google by default in a few months. Doing your searches by voice and getting super fast results is life-changing and, once you have tasted it, it becomes really difficult to go back.
That’s it for my humble predictions of the future. In the present, AI Mode is only accessible to Google One AI Premium subscribers and can be activated in the Labs section of the search engine. The option is therefore in the testing phase before most likely being deployed to everyone soon.
For now, this new mode does not mark the end of traditional results but rather constitutes a gateway to a hybrid experience between classic search and chatbot interaction. A smooth transition, in other words. Robby Stein, vice president of product at Google, explains that the increasing integration of AI allows users to obtain a more precise context before consulting sites. According to him, this could even increase the duration of visits by Internet users on the referenced pages.
In its press release, Google reassures. The company specifies that its AI Mode will not completely replace the usual results and that the functionality will be activated only when it can guarantee a high degree of confidence in the proposed answers. Otherwise, the classic presentation of the results will always dominate. A question then arises: for how long?
At JVTECH, we believe that the web press will have to reinvent itself. Whether or not we like the current paradigm shift, the economic problem posed by GPT Search, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode will have to be solved. If people get their answers through AI, they will no longer click on the sites used as sources. Without an audience, these sites die. Without these sites, AI will no longer have reliable sources. And then, it will be a disaster.
So what to do? One solution already in place is the funding of media by AI companies. Some media outlets already receive 7-figure sums to be sucked in by artificial intelligences. The problem with this method is the advantage it gives to the biggest players in the field. For example, for JV, it will be fine, but for the smallest video game sites, it will be the end. And that would be a shame: freedom and plurality of the press seem essential to us.