Google’s Playing With the Chrome Search Bar Again—But This Time, It’s About AI

Nick Papanikolopoulos

July 20, 2025

Google’s fiddling with the look of Chrome’s search bar on Android. Again. But this time, it’s not about aesthetics. It’s strategic. As spotted in the latest beta of the Chrome app (version 139.0.7258.32, for the curious), Google is experimenting with two alternate search bar layouts., with goal to make AI Mode more visible—and more used.

Announced earlier this year at I/O, AI Mode is Google’s not-so-subtle answer to the growing threat from AI search competitors. Think Perplexity, ChatGPT, and every other tool that lets you ask a question and get a single, readable answer instead of ten blue links and a headache. AI Mode is designed to shortcut that whole process, especially for complex or nuanced queries.

So it makes sense that Google wants to give it prime real estate. Where better than the search bar—the most-tapped UI element in all of Chrome?

What’s Changing, Exactly?

In one of the new designs being tested, Google has moved the Google Lens and voice search icons out of the search bar and dropped them just below it. In their place, Google adds a shortcut to AI Mode—right inside the search field. It’s bold. It’s front and center. It’s a quiet, visual cue: Use this.

There’s also a subtle wording change. “Search or type URL” becomes “Search Google or type URL.” It’s small, but again, intentional. This is Google reasserting its brand—reminding users who’s running the show here.

In the second version, the changes go even further. Alongside Lens and voice icons underneath the search bar, there’s now a shortcut for Incognito Mode—a little incognito-man icon that, honestly, looks like a nod to Breaking Bad’s Heisenberg. That’s a whole different kind of UX choice, and yes, in this variant, the AI Mode shortcut still sits in the main bar.

Notably, in this version, the big “G” logo gets booted from the bar entirely, replaced by the older placeholder text. It’s a slightly cleaner look—but maybe also a little less branded.

Why This Matters

Google doesn’t redesign Chrome lightly. Chrome is still one of the most widely used browsers on Android, and every tweak to its layout has downstream effects on how people search, browse, or even think about using the web. And make no mistake: This is about defending the search bar itself. AI-first tools are threatening Google’s entire business model by offering direct, conversational answers. The faster people can get what they need without a traditional web search, the less time they spend in Google’s results—and the fewer ads Google can serve them.

Putting AI Mode front-and-center is an attempt to reframe the narrative. If users can get similar, smart answers from within Chrome, then maybe they won’t wander off to other platforms. It’s about containment as much as innovation.

Google Chrome AI Mode: Will You See This Yet?

Probably not—unless you’re running the Chrome beta on Android. And even then, results may vary. For example, the search bar redesigns haven’t appeared yet on my own Pixel 6 Pro, which is running Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3 and version 138 of the Chrome app. (You need version 139 for any of this.) That’s typical for Google. It tests visual changes like these quietly, in waves, before deciding what to roll out globally. But make no mistake: One of these designs is coming. Soon.

What’s the Better Look?

That’s up for debate. Some users might prefer the incognito shortcut. Others might hate losing the “G” logo. Some probably don’t want anything to change at all. But Google has a clear agenda here. AI Mode is getting more screen time—whether you asked for it or not.

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