MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google on Tuesday unveiled Gemini Spark, an artificial intelligence assistant designed to proactively perform tasks on behalf of users, as part of a broader push into what the company calls “agentic” AI at its annual I/O developers conference. The announcement comes as Google’s Gemini app has more than doubled its user base in the past year to surpass 900 million monthly active users, and as the company signals its deepening financial commitment to AI development with capital expenditures that may reach as high as $190 billion in 2026.
The event near the company’s Mountain View headquarters focused heavily on agents — AI systems that can act autonomously rather than simply respond to user prompts. Google CEO Sundar Pichai told attendees before a packed amphitheater that the company is entering what he described as a new phase for its technology. “We are firmly in our agentic Gemini era,” Pichai said.
Pichai acknowledged that the technology remains in its early stages. “I’ve played around with all sorts of agents and you can really see the potential, but it’s still early days when it comes to making agents easy to use, super secure and truly helpful,” he said.
MSI previously reported that the I/O conference was expected to focus heavily on new Gemini models and AI agents. Gemini Spark is the centerpiece of that push — a proactive assistant that Google said will handle tasks without requiring direct user commands at every step, operating as a persistent cloud-based helper.
Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc., have poured billions into AI development. The company’s top finance executive told investors in a call in late April that this year’s capital expenditures may climb as high as $190 billion. The investment appears to be yielding returns, according to the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report, which showed strong growth. Google’s stock has climbed another 11% since the report was released last month.
Pichai said during the keynote address that the Gemini app had 400 million monthly active users in 2025, but that usership has now surpassed 900 million, more than doubling in a year.