Google adds AI study tools across Search and Gemini

The features are Google’s latest push to make Gemini the assistant students turn to for learning, as it competes with OpenAI and education-focused startups such as Knowt and Gauth.

In Search, students can now generate custom interactive tools and simulations to understand complex topics. Searching “pH scale,” for example, now surfaces an interactive visual inside an AI Overview; a follow-up question, like plotting citrus fruits on that scale, prompts AI Mode to build a tailored interactive experience. Search can also now generate customized practice quizzes on any subject — science, math, humanities, foreign languages — from a plain-language prompt, such as asking for the most commonly tested SAT vocabulary words.

In the coming weeks, Lens in Search will add an interactive learning mode: students tap the Lens camera icon in the Google app, upload a photo of a problem, and get AI to explain the concept, flag mistakes, and offer guidance. Separately, Search can now turn uploaded files — PDFs, docs, slides, or a photo of handwritten notes — into study documents, such as a one-pager summarizing key concepts across a set of lecture materials.

On Gemini, Google is launching a feature that lets students kick off multi-step research reports inside Gemini Live and then discuss the results conversationally: they can ask Gemini to research a topic, close the chat or do something else while it works in the background, get notified when the report is ready, and then ask follow-up questions by voice. Gemini can also now generate functional 3D simulations — a prompt like “show me how DNA works in 3D” returns a structure users can rotate and zoom into, alongside tables and grids in other responses. Google is also rolling out a dedicated hub in the Gemini app that gathers a study notebook, flashcards, and practice quizzes in one place.

Why it matters

The rollout shows Google leaning on its Search distribution and Gemini’s multimodal features to lock in student usage before OpenAI and smaller edtech rivals can build the same habit.