Google is continuing its aggressive push to weave artificial intelligence into the fabric of the web. This week, the company expanded the availability of Gemini in Chrome to a suite of new markets across East Asia and the Pacific, including Australia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. The rollout follows earlier launches in North America and India, signaling a transition from experimental feature to a standard component of the Google ecosystem.
The integration manifests as a persistent sidebar, accessible via an "Ask Gemini" icon. Unlike standalone chatbots, this implementation is designed for cross-tab context, allowing users to query the model about information distributed across multiple open windows. It also incorporates "Nano Banana 2," Google’s latest in-house image generation model, and provides direct hooks into the company’s productivity suite, such as adding events to Google Calendar without leaving the current page.
While the expansion brings the tool to desktop and iOS users in most regions, Japan remains a notable exception for mobile, where the suite is currently restricted to the desktop browser. For those wary of the encroaching AI presence, Google has kept the interface modular; the shortcut can be unpinned from the toolbar, though its prominent placement suggests Google’s long-term vision of the browser as a proactive assistant rather than a passive window.
With reporting from Engadget.
Source · Engadget
