Google Chrome Update: Browser Gains New Features, Including Generative AI

Google Chrome's latest update is bringing a load of new features to the browser for users to utilize, including generative AI technology.

The company said in its latest announcement that it would soon be adding a trio of new AI-powered features that could come to Chrome for Mac and Windows.

These include a way for users to smartly organize their tabs, customize their theme, and get help when writing things on the web, such as on forum posts, online reviews, and many others.

Google Chrome Update

The latter feature is similar to one that is currently available to Google's experimental AI search experience, SGE (Search Generative Experience). This allows users to get help in drafting things such as emails in different tones, like more formal or more casual, or in different lengths.

Using the built-in writing helper in Chrome, Google suggests users will be able to write business reviews, "craft a friendly RSVP to a party," or make a more formal inquiry about a vacation rental, among other capabilities, as per TechCrunch.

The feature, which is still experimental, will be accessible by users in next month's Chrome release by right-clicking on a text box or field on the web and choosing "help me write." In order to get started, they would have to first write a few words and then Google's AI will step in to help fill in the rest.

On top of the writing assistant, AI technology can also be used to help organize tab groups and personalize a person's browser. Chrome's Tab Groups feature will let people who keep many tabs open manage them by organizing them into groups.

However, the company explained that curating these tabs can be a manual process. The use of the new Tab Organizer will automatically let Chrome suggest and create groups based on the tabs that are already open on the browser.

New AI Features

Furthermore, the feature will allow users to right-click on a tab and select "organize similar tabs" to let the browser attempt to create a tab group filled with similar items. It would seem like an underrated feature that will be a helpful way of keeping users' stuff in order while they are browsing the web, according to The Verge.

The Chrome theme store will also be one of the targets of the latest update which will soon let users pick an image, a style, a color, and a few other things. The browser would then automatically generate a browser theme to match the selected settings.

The company said that it would be using the same text-to-image model that powers Android's generative wallpapers. The new features are part of Google's efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into its products and come on the heels of the release of its Bard AI assistant.

The new update would also rival Microsoft's AI-infused Bing engine, which had already introduced artificial intelligence technology, including tab grouping and a text composition helped, in September last year.

Despite this, Chrome still dominates the U.S. browser market share by a particularly wide margin. Bing is usually lumped into the "others" category, which is well below competitors like Firefox and Opera, said Engadget.