Google debuts AI Mode in search in Kenya, Nigeria & SA
Search giant Google has announced the launch of new artificial intelligence functionality called “AI Mode” which has been rolled out for users in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
It called the feature “a new era of AI-powered search” which it claims is more intuitive, comprehensive and helpful.
AI Mode helps users tackle complex, multi-part questions with more intuitive responses, multimodal inputs and deeper ways to explore topics, Google said.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring AI Mode to our users in the region. We know that people in this region are curious and have complex questions about everything from planning a trip to understanding a new concept,” Google Africa MD Alex Okosi said in a statement.
“With AI Mode, we are reimagining the Search experience. Users will not only find the information they need more easily but will also be empowered to explore a wider range of content from across the web,” Okosi added.
Powered by a custom version of Google’s latest Gemini 2.5 model, AI Mode brings advanced reasoning and context understanding to search functionality.
Google said AI Mode will begin rolling out on Thursday, August 21, 2025, across the three countries and will appear as a tab on the search results page and within the Google app for Android and iOS users.
Google has been advancing its investments into AI in Africa and last month pledged $37 million in funding and partnerships on the continent to strengthen AI research, support African languages, improve food systems and expand digital skills.
Enabling more detailed queries
Google said that AI Mode will change the way people interact with search by allowing them to ask nuanced and exploratory questions that would previously require multiple searches.
“AI Mode is especially useful for longer, more detailed queries. A key feature of AI Mode is its advanced reasoning, which uses a query fan-out technique to break down a user’s question into subtopics and simultaneously search a multitude of queries on their behalf,” Google said in a statement.
.jpg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale "Google Africa MD Alex Okosi")
Google Africa MD Alex Okosi. (Source: Google)
AI Mode is designed to be multimodal, allowing users to interact via text, voice or even images. By clicking the microphone icon or uploading a photo users can ask questions using their voice or camera.
The AI-powered response includes prominent links to web sources, which Google believes will expand the types of questions people can ask and opens up new opportunities for content discovery.
“Google remains committed to supporting the open web and ensuring that its AI-powered features are rooted in its core quality and ranking systems. With AI Mode, web links are prominently displayed, ensuring users can easily click through to discover more,” the company explained.
Google said that data from AI Overviews shows that AI-powered results lead users to visit a greater diversity of websites and spend more time engaging with them.
“While AI Mode aims to provide a reliable AI-powered response, in cases where confidence is not high, the system will default to a set of traditional web search results,” Google concluded.