Google adds AI image generation to AI previews and redesigns the Google Images homepage to mark the service’s 25th anniversary.
Brad Kellet, Senior Director of Engineering for Search, announced the changes at a company blog post.
Generating images in AI previews
Image generation in AI Overviews turns a text prompt into a custom image created using Google’s latest Nano Banana template, the image system, it expanded to search and Chrome this year.
Here’s an example of generating a single image from a prompt. A search asking Google to visualize a nautical style room returns a generated room, along with follow-up questions to refine the design.
Here is an example of generating a comparison. A search asking Google to create a visual comparing two options side by side.
Rollout will begin in the coming weeks in English, in all regions that currently support AI imaging.
A new Google Images home page
Google is also introducing a searchable home page for Google Images, described as a gallery of images from around the web that updates in real time. Results are tailored to your interests when you’re logged in, and you can save ideas in collections that appear as tabs above the gallery.
Here is an example of the new home page; notice the custom tabs below the search bar:
The updated homepage will roll out over the next few weeks to desktop in the United States in English.
Why it matters
AI previews already answer many on-page queries without a click. Adding generated images gives this surface one more thing it can produce on its own, in a place that has directed people to images from around the web.
When Google brought visual results in AI mode last yeara spokesperson told SEJ that its systems do not explicitly distinguish real photos from AI-generated images. This feature returned images linked to external sources.
The redesigned Images home page adds another starting point for discovery, with a personalized feed for logged in users as well as query-based image search.
Looking to the future
Both updates are staggered rollouts and Google hasn’t committed to a firm launch date for either. Whether image generation becomes widespread depends on how much Google expands AI image creation.
