Google brings Canvas AI tool to all US users in AI Mode

Google has expanded access to Canvas in AI Mode—a Google Search feature for AI-assisted queries—to all users in the U.S. in English. The rollout marks a transition for the feature, which first launched last year as part of the company’s Google Labs experiments.

Canvas is designed to help users organize and plan projects or conduct deeper research. Within Google Search, the feature allows users to draft documents or build custom tools. For example, users can upload class notes to build a study guide, or turn a research report into a web page, quiz, or audio overview—functionality that overlaps with Google’s research tool, Notebook LM. Users can also describe an idea to Canvas, which then generates code to turn that concept into a shareable application or game. The tool also supports creative writing drafts and project feedback. To use the feature, users select Canvas from the tool menu while in AI Mode, opening a side panel that pulls information from the web and Google’s Knowledge Graph, which is the company’s database of entities and relationships.

This broader rollout highlights Google’s strategic advantage in the artificial intelligence race. By leveraging the massive reach of Google Search, the company can place its AI products directly in front of billions of users, including those who have not yet used its Gemini platform. This distribution strategy intensifies competition with similar tools from rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. While OpenAI’s ChatGPT triggers its own Canvas feature automatically based on user queries, Google and Anthropic’s Claude require more direct user interaction to initiate their respective workspace features. Both competitor tools also allow users to get help with writing or turn ideas into projects.

While the general rollout in AI Mode is now available to all U.S. users, Google maintains a distinction between this search-based feature and its subscription offerings. Power users seeking more complex capabilities can still access Canvas directly within Gemini. There, Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra subscribers have access to the Gemini 3 model, which features a 1 million-token context window—the amount of information the model can process at once—to handle more complex projects.

Why it matters

The expansion of Canvas to all U.S. users leverages the reach of Google Search to place AI products in front of a massive user base, intensifying competition with similar tools from OpenAI and Anthropic.