Google has begun to produce tangible results for its AI in search. During the Q1 earnings call of 2025, the tech giant proclaimed that AI Overviews, being the AI-generated summaries from the tech giant, are now used monthly by over 1.5 billion people in more than 100 countries. First, the feature was tested two years ago and it has vastly broadened from then in terms of scope as well as languages support.

AI overviews actually provide brief AI-generated responses at the very top of search results for certain queries such as “What is generative AI?” Then, it pulls information from different web sources as reference material. Publishers have aired some concerns over declining web  traffic due to this feature, as it crushes their efforts. However, Google calls it a huge leap towards user engagement and monetization.

Shift to Conversational Search

Advertisements were deployed in AI Overview last October as a means to monetize the AI-search first strategy. Google has begun testing an AI Mode offering possible conversations for users to pose complicated, follow-up questions directly within the search experience. The new interface brings Google to compete directly with AI-native platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Through combining traditional search with conversational AI, Google hopes to keep their current loyal users, while modernizing the search experience for particularly younger audiences.

Circle to Search Usage Increases

Google also mentioned notable growth in other AI-enabled tools along with AI Overviews.  Circle to Search enables users to draw a circle around an object on their smartphone screen to generate queries about it and was recently made available on more than 250 million devices, up from 200 million at the end of last year. According to the company, the usage of the feature rose nearly 40% quarter-on-quarter.

The visual search product, Google Lens, has grown vigorously. CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned that Lens-based searches have gone up by 5 billion since October. Notably, the number of people shopping through Google Lens rose more than 10% in Q1.

Regulatory Storm over Google Search

In light of all the AI-enhanced search tools, Google is coming under immense pressure from U.S regulators. The Department of Justice is demanding that it dissociate Chrome, alleging that Google uses its monopoly power to restrain competition in online search. Separately, a federal judge has now ruled that Google holds a monopoly in adtech which increases the possibility for breaking up its advertising business. Google AI is not just battling rivals, but it has to move through a complex, changing regulatory landscape.

On one hand, there is no denying that the company is racing towards modernizing search faster, blending utility and innovation in a manner that keeps users engaged. On the other hand, it is their growing dominance that is ringing the alarm bells among regulators trying to clamp down on what they consider to be monopolistic practices. The miles ahead are lined on one side with billions of queries and a few summons on the other, the extent to which Google keeps balancing innovation with compliance will dictate how the future of AI-powered information will look.