When Google CEO Sundar Pichai steps on stage at the Google I/O 2025 developer conference next week to deliver his opening remarks, expect two letters to dominate the discussion — AI.
Artificial Intelligence takes up much of the focus at Google these days, with AI features arriving across multiple products, AI-focused projects capturing much of the public's attention and predictions on the future of AI taking up a lot of the company's public pronouncements.
And that's going to be on full display at this year's Google I/O, which gets underway Tuesday (May 20) and runs through Wednesday.
In fact, the I/O keynote delivered by Pichar and other Google executives to open the conference Tuesday figures to be so AI-focused that Android — once the star of these kind of events — has been shunted off to the side. Google already gave us an overview on the state of its mobile software this past week during a separate Android Show event that streamed online.
You want an in-person audience? You had best be about AI these days.
This year's AI-heavy Google I/O will be a welcome event for anyone excited about the prospect of artificial intelligence, particular if the keynote features Google's trademark demos of new technology showcasing just what the company introduces.
But if you're lukewarm about the tech industry's fascination with AI — or skeptical about the promised benefits — Tuesday's presentation has the prospect of seeming like an interminable slog.
And I'm afraid I find myself on the latter side of things.
Perhaps years of AI hype have left me jaded, particularly because I test a lot of mobile AI features on phones that promise to be game-changers only to turn out to be anything but. Or maybe all the very real advances in AI have yet to translate into something that changes the way I interact with the devices around me. But for me, AI demos are starting to take on the feel of a night out a particularly underwhelming theme restaurant — it's a meal with a lot of sizzle, but not much steak.
There's also the creeping suspicion that companies are pouring these resources into AI not to make things better for you and me, but to improve their own bottom line. Certainly, news that Microsoft is cutting 2,000 jobs because it's increasing turning to AI to handle tasks like coding does not put my mind at ease about the motivations going on here.
My hope is that amid all of the AI demos, someone at Google takes the time not just to explain the "what," but also the "how" and "why."
It doesn't have to be that way. My hope is that amid all of the AI demos, announcements and unveilings, someone at Google takes the time not just to explain the "what," but also the "how" and "why" of the things it's talking about.
Yes, you've just developed an AI model that will speed up a particular task or add an AI agent to a product that didn't have one. But how that ultimately benefit the people using your product? Why do I need this particular advance when I've gotten along perfectly well without it?
If Google I/O tackles that part of the presentation, then all the AI demos will be a lot more worthwhile. And if not, well, I can't imagine feeling any more jaded than I do now.
In the meantime, here's a look at how you can follow along with Google I/O and what you're likely to see if you do.
Google I/O 2025: When is it and how can you watch it?
Google i/O 2025 starts this Tuesday, May 20 and runs two days. As Google has done for the last few years, it's hosting the developer conference at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, an outdoor venue that's a short stroll from the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.
Google kicks things off on Tuesday with a keynote that starts at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. BST. You can watch a live stream of the keynote along with selected Google I/O sessions from the event website. Google also has a YouTube live stream set up for the I/O keynote.
In addition to the main keynote on Tuesday, there's also a developer keynote slated for 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT / 9:30 p.m BST. This event usually tackles the main event in great detail — some times in eye-crossing levels of detail if you're not a developer — though there can be additional announcements on developer-centric additions to existing Google products, too.
Google IO 2025: What's on the agenda
AI news
Google is famous for peppering its I/O presentations with a lot of surprise announcements and demos. Many times, I've been in the audience at an I/O keynote as Google shows off something like a voice assistant that can place restaurant reservations on your behalf or AI-powered photo editing tools that no one saw coming ahead of time.
Project Astra was one of those announcements from last year's I/O. It's a universal AI assistant that can see what you see while acting on voice inputs on the same time. It's initially rolling out as part of Gemini Live, but it's pretty clear that it's going to appear in other future products like smart glasses.
To that end, I'd expect some sort of Project Astra update and demo during the I/O keynote. And this is one time where Google has given us some strong hints as to what we should expect — how else to explain the end of last week's Android Show where Android chief Sameer Samat teased exciting demos to come at I/O while very pointed putting on a pair of sunglasses?
The AI news won't stop with Project Astra. Earlier this month, Google released Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O Edition) as an update to the Gemini AI model. It's a pretty developer-centric release with an emphasis on coding and building interactive web apps, which seems like catnip for the folks attending I/O. I'd expect more on this particular release along with a raft of other Gemini-related announcements.
A few days ago, The Information reported that Google has been showing employees an AI agent aimed at software development. Specifically, the AI tool is designed to identify bugs and security flaws in software. Again, this seems like something that would interest I/O attendees, though The Information said that it's unclear how close this agent is to being ready for public consumption.
Android XR
Don't expect all mentions of Android to be banished from I/O. The Android show spent very little time on Android XR, the platform announced late last year that Google has been developing with contributions from Samsung and Qualcomm. I'd imagine we're going to hear more about Android XR and the products it could run on.
In fact, Samsung has already teased such a product — a headset called Project Moohan. Also shown off at the end of last year, Project Moohan has been light on details up until this point, though a 2025 release date has essentially been confirmed. More concrete details on Project Moohan would seem to be more appropriate for a Samsung event, but I wouldn't rule out an appearance or a demo at I/O.
More to the point, I'd expect some details on other products using Android XR, whether that's headsets or smart glasses. And given last week's news that Gemini would find its way onto more products, a demo of how an AI-powered assistant would work with an Android XR-based device seems very much in the cards.
Other possibilities
In the same article where The Information reported on a potential AI agent for software development, the outlet also claimed that Google could show off a would-be rival to Pinterest at I/O. The Google version apparently under development lets people look up images for design inspiration and save them to folders.
While last week's Android event discussed interface changes coming to Android 16, it didn't reveal a specific release date for the software update. Google's Samat did indicate an update would be coming to Pixel devices in June, though it's possible Google might have more to say about its Android 16 launch schedule at I/O.
One thing I'm not expecting at Google I/O 2025 is any sort of hardware announcement. While Google has used its developer conference to launch new phones previously, it's already released the Pixel 9a, while the Pixel 10 flagships aren't expected to arrive until the end of summer.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
