Google expands AI Mode with new language support for Hindi and Japanese

Google opens AI Mode to millions more users

Google has rolled out its advanced AI Mode to five new languages, breaking past the English-only limitation that lasted six months.

The update includes Hindi, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. This means users across major global markets can now interact with AI Mode in their own languages.

The move builds on Google’s August expansion of AI Mode to 180 countries, showing how quickly the company wants to make AI-powered search a core global feature.

Hindi and Japanese are the most impactful additions

Hindi and Japanese stand out among the five new languages due to their massive user bases. Hindi has over 600 million speakers, making it one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide.

Japanese, spoken by over 125 million people, is central to a highly digital and mobile-first market. By supporting both, Google significantly widens AI Mode’s reach in Asia.

These additions also highlight Google’s intent to go beyond English-centric AI tools and embrace cultural diversity in digital experiences.

AI Mode is more than just translation

According to Google executives, expanding AI Mode is not about directly translating English responses into other languages. Instead, the Gemini 2.5 model has been tuned to understand cultural and linguistic nuances, offering locally relevant answers.

This matters because literal translations can miss context, tone, or intent. In early tests, Hindi responses weren’t just English queries rewritten; they reflected real-world phrasing and cultural context. That kind of localization is critical to gain long-term trust in AI search.

Gemini 2.5 powers the expanded experience

This rollout’s core is a customized version of Gemini 2.5, designed to handle multimodal queries and deeper reasoning. It can combine text, images, and even live inputs for richer answers.

Gemini’s reasoning helps AI Mode provide complex, multi-step responses rather than just summaries.

Google’s confidence in scaling to new languages comes directly from Gemini’s flexibility, which adapts to local language structures and unique information ecosystems. This upgrade underscores why Gemini is central to Google’s AI search strategy.

AI Mode continues to add agentic features

Language expansion isn’t the only thing happening. AI Mode recently gained “agentic” features that let it take action beyond answering questions.

For example, users in the U.S. can already use it to find restaurant reservations through integrations with OpenTable, Resy, and Tock.

Soon, it will extend to local services and ticket bookings. While currently limited to Ultra subscribers paying $249.99 per month, the rollout shows Google is inching closer to an AI assistant that actively performs tasks for users.

AI Mode is being positioned as the future of search

AI Mode isn’t just an add-on to Google Search; it’s shaping up as the future default. Currently, users access it through a dedicated tab and button, but Google DeepMind’s product leaders hint that it may soon replace traditional results entirely.

That would mean AI-led summaries, visual answers, and conversational interactions as the primary search experience.

This language expansion is another step toward that vision, making AI search global, more personal, and culturally relevant.

The move responds to rising global competition

Google’s push to expand AI Mode is also a reaction to intensifying competition from rivals like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft.

These companies aggressively push their AI-powered search platforms, often marketed as more nimble and global.

By rolling out Hindi, Japanese, and other widely spoken languages, Google ensures its search ecosystem doesn’t lose ground in key international markets. The competition isn’t just about features; it’s about who controls the following billion users entering the age of AI search.

Google highlights inclusivity in its announcement

In its blog post, Google emphasized that the update brings advanced AI capabilities to more people in their “preferred language.” This positioning highlights accessibility and inclusivity.

While AI development often starts with English-centric tools, Google wants to signal that its most advanced features won’t remain locked behind a single language barrier.

Tapping into languages spoken by hundreds of millions also strengthens loyalty in markets where rivals might gain traction first with local users.

Local nuance is critical to trust and adoption

Google stressed that AI Mode’s answers will be “culturally relevant and useful” in the new languages. For example, in Hindi, answers account for regional phrasing and context, while in Japanese, the responses adapt to formal and casual tone differences.

These details matter. Users are more likely to trust AI if it “speaks” in ways that reflect their culture. If Google succeeds, it could gain an edge over competitors whose AI responses feel generic or disconnected from local norms.

The scale of this rollout is enormous

Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese represent more than a billion speakers globally. That makes this one of Google’s most significant language expansions ever for an AI feature.

The choice of languages isn’t random; they all represent fast-growing internet markets with high mobile usage.

By reaching these audiences early, Google ensures AI Mode is embedded in how these users search, shop, and interact online. It opens vast new opportunities for advertisers and businesses to connect with consumers.

AI Mode builds on Google’s earlier AI Overviews

Before AI Mode, Google introduced AI Overviews, which automatically generate summaries at the top of search results. AI Mode is the next step, offering deeper reasoning, visualizations, and conversational interactions.

It uses a “query fan-out” method, splitting complex questions into multiple related searches and combining the answers.

This technique allows it to produce richer, more comprehensive responses. The addition of new languages means millions more people can now experience the difference between a simple overview and advanced AI reasoning.

Personalization is becoming part of the package

Alongside language expansion, AI Mode is gaining personalization features. For example, booking restaurants can account for your preferences in cuisine, location, and party size.

Plans include extending this to service appointments and event tickets. This shift shows how AI Mode moves from a search tool to a digital concierge.

By combining reasoning with personalization, Google is positioning AI Mode as not just a way to find information, but as a way to solve problems.

Some users are cautious about traffic impacts

Publishers and independent site owners worry that AI Mode might reduce website clicks. Since AI Mode can directly answer complex queries, users may no longer feel the need to click through.

This is especially concerning for markets like India and Japan, where digital media businesses rely heavily on search-driven traffic.

Google has denied that AI features reduce clicks overall, but concerns remain. The rollout of Hindi and Japanese support could reignite this debate locally.

Google defends AI Mode as traffic-neutral

Google executives insist that AI Mode does not hurt the open web. Search head Liz Reid said last month that click volumes are “relatively stable” compared to the year before.

She also noted that AI Mode often surfaces more links than traditional results, giving smaller publishers more visibility.

Still, independent research has shown declines in traffic for some publishers. As Hindi and Japanese speakers adopt AI Mode, the balance between keeping users informed and supporting web publishers will be tested.

The Pixel 10 launch tied AI Mode updates together

Google used the Pixel 10 launch as a stage to showcase AI Mode’s latest features, including personalization and agentic capabilities.

Tying new features to hardware launches helps build excitement and positions Google as an ecosystem provider, not just a search company.

With language expansion arriving shortly afterward, it’s clear Google is syncing its hardware, software, and AI narratives. AI Mode could be central to how future Pixel devices are marketed for Hindi and Japanese speakers.

Meanwhile, Google DeepMind’s CEO says AI aces the math olympiad but sometimes struggles with high school problems.

The future of AI Mode is about inclusivity and action

With support for Hindi, Japanese, and other languages, Google is proving it wants AI Mode to be more than a premium experiment.

It’s about inclusivity, bringing powerful AI to more users in their own languages, and about action, with agentic features that move AI from a passive tool to an active problem-solver.

This expansion isn’t just about broadening access but redefining the global search. And it’s only the beginning of what AI Mode could become.

At the same time, Google’s secretive Gemini AI is being built exclusively for the US government.

What do you think about Google Gemini adding news languages to give a better experience to the users? Please share your thoughts and drop a comment.

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This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.