On Wednesday, Google unveiled a suite of new Gemini-powered tools integrated directly into its Chrome browser. The rollout includes Nano Banana, an image-generation utility capable of producing high-resolution graphics within seconds; Auto browse, an agentic AI feature that executes multi-step web tasks via a single user prompt; and the expansion of Personal Intelligence, which synthesizes data from Gmail and Google Photos to deliver customized answers in search queries. Additionally, Chrome’s interface now features a persistent right-side Gemini panel, ensuring users can summon the chatbot throughout their browsing session. These enhancements mark Google’s most significant AI retrofit of its flagship browser, underscoring its strategy to leverage Chrome as the primary gateway for competing against OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has published draft conduct rules targeting Google’s use of third-party content in its AI Overviews. Under the proposal, news publishers and website owners would gain the right to opt out of having their material scraped for AI summaries without being demoted in search rankings. The CMA also seeks to enforce transparent ranking methodologies, prevent preferential treatment for advertisers, and mandate ‘choice screens’ on Android devices and Chrome to facilitate easy default search engine switches. Responses to the consultation will be accepted through February 25, after which the CMA will issue final measures to safeguard publisher traffic and promote fair competition.

The European Commission has opened specification proceedings under the Digital Markets Act to define how Google must grant third-party AI firms and rival search engines equivalent access to Gemini services and underlying Search data. The six-month process aims to establish clear obligations for ‘equally effective access’ to AI features, including chatbot APIs and training datasets. Google has already begun licensing search data to select partners but will need to demonstrate compliance with any new DMA rules by the end of the proceedings. EU regulators emphasize that these measures are crucial to preserving user privacy, fostering innovation across the bloc’s AI ecosystem, and preventing leakage of data advantages held by dominant platforms.