It is smart enough to explain a screenshot from an anime or hand-drawn sketches, but avoids explicit or adult content.

Google has announced on its blog that it’s making its AI-powered search tool, called AI Mode, even smarter. It can now look at pictures and help answer questions about them — and this feature is starting to roll out to millions more users in the U.S. through the Google app on Android and iPhone.

With this update, which is the giant’ response to Perplexity and ChatGPT Search, users can take or upload a photo and Google’s AI Mode will analyze the image and give a detailed answer — along with useful links. For example, if you take a picture of a book, it can tell you what book it is, suggest similar ones, and even recommend other titles people like.

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This upgrade combines Gemini AI (Google’s smart assistant) with Google Lens (their image recognition tech). It doesn’t just see the object — it understands the whole scene, including how things in the image relate to each other, eventually giving more accurate and helpful answers.

Google’s AI Mode can understand more than just realistic photos — it also works with cartoons, drawings, screenshots, and other types of images. That’s because Gemini + Google Lens combination has been trained to recognize and understand all kinds of visual content — not just real-world objects.

So, don’t be shy to upload a screenshot from an anime, a cartoon-style product label, and even hand-drawn sketches. However, it works best with high-quality images and clear subjects. The more detailed and less abstract the image, the better the response.

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While AI Mode can understand many types of images, it follows strict content guidelines. This means it may block or give limited responses to explicit or adult content. Even if an erotic image is uploaded, the AI is designed to avoid engaging with or providing detailed answers about such material.

The tool focuses on keeping the experience safe and appropriate for all users.

Until now, AI Mode was only available to people who paid for Google One’s AI Premium plan. But now, Google is expanding it to many more users who are part of the Labs testing program in the United States.

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