Buckle up: Google is set to remake search with agentic AI in 2026

Last year marked the beginning of Google's explicit focus on AI search, and this year's I/O solidified that shift . As Google's search VP Liz Reid said during the keynote, "Google search is AI search." This change is well underway, and the very reasonable objections to this path will not dissuade the company. All the metrics that matter to Google say this is the right move.