Google I/O 2026

It’s combining Google Home APIs with Gemini smart home features, so ISPs, security companies, and carriers can “build monetizable, proactive services” for your homes. In other words, Google wants other companies to put Google Home’s AI in their products — and charge you a Google Home Premium subscription. With manufacturers now able to build Gemini-powered speakers and cameras, it seems entirely possible that Google may never make another Nest device again.

While the Google Home Speaker was nowhere to be seen at I/O, the company did announce it’s getting back into the third-party smart speaker game. A new Speaker Reference Design will let manufacturers build Gemini-powered smart speakers, and rumors point to a Walmart Onn speaker being the first.

It’s already available on iOS, and coming to Android soon. Google is also adding granular editing tools for changing portions of an AI-generated song, tweaking beat drops, or rewriting lyrics. It’s also adding the ability to generate “covers” and music videos, so you can countrify that punk song you prompted.

Yesterday Emma Roth wrote that Google’s pitch for AI at I/O demands both your trust and your personal data. Going by the comment section, that’s a trade many of you are no longer willing to make.

The app, which you can pre-register for on Google Play, will let you use AI and prompts to starting building other apps.

Google TV developers can add motion-controlled input support for navigation on the home page and within apps. LG TVs have included its magic remote for years, but those TVs run webOS and not Google TV, so this could be a sign new Google TV pointer remotes are coming.

Details are scant, but if you want to read about some of the capabilities, here’s my Android XR hands-on!

When making an interactive experience with Project Genie, you can now pick a place in the US and Genie can use Street View data from that place for grounding. You can also prompt a style to change what that place looks like in your interactive AI-generated world.

It’s still expensive, though: Google AI Ultra plan, which used to cost $249.99 per month, now starts at $100 per month. There’s also a $200 per month option that includes access to Google’s Project Genie world model.

Join us on the live stream as soon as Google’s keynote wraps up. Hayden Field and I will be in the studio to talk over the biggest announcements, which I’m going to make the bold prediction right now probably involves a lot of AI. Tune in and post your thoughts in the live chat.

We’re here at the Shoreline Amphitheater for the keynote, liveblogging fingers at the ready. We also caught Phil and Vjeran in line. Not pictured is one Dieter Bohn, who approved of us upholding the Verge tradition of being first in the press line.

Amidst the biggest update to Android Auto in 10 years, here’s one more feature we spotted on the Android Show: it uses your car’s front camera to predict when to move over. (What would it look for?) Only for select Google Built-in cars, not vanilla Android Auto.