In a recent interview on the Silicon Valley Girl podcast, Robby Stein, Google’s product lead for Search, said the company is testing ways for AI Mode to “know more about you” in order to deliver richer, more helpful answers.

He said: “We want people to be able to help Google - and help the services know more about you so that it can be more helpful.”

First previewed at Google I/O 2024, AI Mode is an evolution of Search Generative Experience (SGE), powered by the company’s Gemini AI models.

Google has said the goal is to combine Search with personalised data streams to anticipate users’ needs.

In practice, that could mean summarising flight itineraries from Gmail, syncing appointments from Calendar, or creating travel itineraries using files from Drive and Maps.

Stein confirmed that the feature will be strictly opt-in, with early versions now available in Google Labs.

These pilot tests focus on “personalised shopping and local restaurant recommendations,” hinting at a gradual rollout before broader integration.

He declined to say when full Gmail or Drive access would launch, noting only that the timeline remains “TBD.”

The move underscores Google’s ambition to make Search the most context-aware AI assistant on the market - but it also raises privacy concerns.

Critics warn that allowing an AI system to mine private correspondence and documents could blur boundaries between convenience and surveillance.

Google insists that user data won’t be used to train its models and that privacy controls will remain central to the experience.

If successful, AI Mode could redefine how users interact with Google Search, turning it from a query box into a deeply personal digital concierge.