Google I/O 2025 live: all the latest news and rumors for Android XR, Gemini, Project Astra, and more
Everything you need to know in the build-up to Google I/O 2025
Arriving at Google I/O 2025
It's pretty early in the morning for technology journalists to function at full capacity, but the TechRadar team are on site and ready to report on Google I/O 2025. Here's Phil. Ready, Set, I/O!
Taking a look at Google Labs
One way of trying to predict what Google might be announcing at its Google I/O event tonight is to take a look at what it is cooking up in its Google Labs development area. Google Labs is accessible to most people and lets you try a few of the fun tools that Google is working on before they are ready.
Looking in there right now I can see AI Mode, which is Google's way of competing with ChatGPT search by using Gemini to help you search online. Also in there is Whisk Animate, which uses Veo 2 to turn your images into animations. I really like the look of Daily Listen, which uses Google's powerful Audio Overviews (the podcast-like audio created in NotebookLM) to produce a daily summary of news for you. Finally, there's Little Language Lessons, which uses AI to help you learn a foreign language.
Will any of these projects see fruition tonight in Google I/O? Stay with us here at TechRadar to find out.
How will you watch it?
There are about three hours left to go until the Google I/O event! How will you watch it? I think I'll be tuning in on YouTube. Not only does YouTube work across most devices, but it's a pretty solid system that can handle the sort of volumes you'd expect from a big event like this.
Don't forget that we'll be bringing you updates throughout the event on this blog, so keep a TechRadar window open for all the updates.
What feature do I want the most?
It's Graham Barlow, TechRadar's Senior AI editor taking over the live blog now in the run up to the big Google I/O event in a few short hours. I can't wait to see what Google has in store for us, particularly with Gemini, it's AI chatbot!
My current favorite feature of Gemini is Live, which gives you the ability to have a human-like conversation with Gemini. I like this feature so much that I've actually hacked my iPhone's Action Button so that it launches straight into Gemini Live.
Forget Siri, Gemini Live is the sort of AI tool that I wish Apple had by default. Want to know how to add Gemini Live to your Action Button on iPhone right now? Don't worry, I've written up the details of how to do it.
On some phones, like the Pixel 9 and Samsung Galaxy S25, Gemini can 'see' through your camera and you can ask it questions about what it's looking at. I would be great if these features were expanded even further in tonight's big event.
He adds, “Of course, that’s not all Wear OS fans are getting. We’re also due to get better battery life, to the tune of 10% more efficiency (for Pixel Watch users, that’s an extra 2.4 hours of use) and Gemini on your wrist.
We know you’ll be able to ask Gemini to do simple tasks for you, like remembering locker key codes, but we hope there are more surprises in store this evening. I’d personally love a Gemini notification summary feature, allowing me to summarize long email chains or WhatsApp group chat message threads without pulling out my phone.
What we’re not likely to see today is any new wearables hardware – Google will likely leave the Pixel Watch 4, and any Fitbits it decides to throw our way, until later in the year.”
Watching for signs of Wear OS 6
We asked Matt Evans, TechRadar's Fitness & Wearables Editor, to give us more info on what we can expect from Wear OS 6.
He said, "We actually know quite a bit about what Wear OS 6 is going to entail, and expect this to be shown off in full during this year’s Google I/O.
A redesigned interface with Material 3 Expressive will create a seamless (or at least “less seams”) transition between Android and Wear OS, with a similar design language. A widget stack like watchOS 10’s redesigned Glances replacement on the best Apple watches is coming, and will use the Pixel watch’s rounded face to get smaller and bigger as you scroll.
Check out the GIF above showing it in action, as previously revealed by Google."
A Pinterest competitor?
Some last-minute rumors hint at Google launching a rival to Pinterest. This would be another attempt at a social media platform after the last attempt, Google+, went offline.
According to sources, the new app will be based on image search results on Google, enabling users to collect different pictures into collections, which can then be shared with other people. If something like this is in the pipeline, then Google I/O 2025 offers the perfect platform from which to announce it.
As someone who has never really used Pinterest, this doesn't fill me with excitement. But considering the website has millions of users globally, I suspect a Pinterest competitor could get some people talking.
Gemini's image editing is super impressive
We recently compared Google Gemini's new image editing feature to ChatGPT's, and found that Google's image generation is much better at sticking to the original image.
After comparing both Gemini and ChatGPT's image editing prowess, TechRadar writer Eric came to this conclusion:
"Gemini's image edits were fast and accurate, and mostly only changed what I asked in the way that I asked. I'd say it's great, especially for quick edits. ChatGPT takes way longer to process the request, and wasn't great at getting it right the first time. It would likely require a lot of back-and-forth in editing prompts to get just the changes you want unless you use the highlight tool, which takes up some extra time, too.
I still think ChatGPT's overall image quality is higher than Gemini's, but that only matters if you have patience and if ChatGPT gets it right the first time. I suspect I may use ChatGPT to make any images, but turn to Gemini if I want to make a few adjustments to an image that I otherwise find appealing."
Google to cement Gemini as a leader in AI
I'm not afraid to say it, I use Gemini more than I use ChatGPT, and honestly, I think it's just easier to use.
The other day I used Gemini Live to help cook a meal, and it was incredible asking AI questions based on what it could see through my smartphone's camera. Gemini also offers Deep Research, which we've tested thoroughly, and even image and video generation that's as good as some of its competitors.
In terms of consumer AI tools, Gemini is leading the pack in my opinion, and I expect Google to further the gap with OpenAI's ChatGPT at I/O later today. ChatGPT may be more powerful depending on your use cases, but for the average consumer, Gemini ticks all the boxes.
Android XR, finally
We've been waiting to get more info on Google's smart glasses for what feels like forever. The time might've come, however, as we're fully expecting to get more of an insight into what Android XR and extended reality glasses are capable of at the event later today.
It's rumored that Google, alongside its partner, Samsung, will showcase XR glasses alongside a larger project codenamed Moohan.
Not long to wait now...
Notebook LM app now available on iOS and Android
Google started the day with the arrival of the NotebookLM app for iOS and Android.
If you've not used Notebook LM yet, it's an impressive AI tool that is able to turn any written document into a short podcast clip with two hosts.
The tool is very useful for studying, research, and even just for a bit of fun. We've tested NotebookLM extensively at TechRadar, so I'll leave a couple of articles below for you to read.
The app is completely free and available to download now.
Google Gemini updates?
In March, Google revealed Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, which the company called its 'Most intelligent AI model' yet.
I'm hoping to see more information on 2.5, and maybe a wider release. At the moment, naming schemes for AI models are getting increasingly hard to follow. Could Google rise up and find a way to simplify the process?
Gemini has so much to offer from Gemini Live, Deep Research, Canvas, Veo, the capabilities are almost endless. If Google could merge everything so that the AI can determine what you need, when you need it, that would be a major shift in the way we interact with artificial intelligence.
Normally we get a look at the future of Android at Google I/O, but this year is different after Google showcased Android 16 last week.
If you want to see what the upcoming mobile software update looks like, we've covered the 5 most useful features coming with Android 16.
Google I/O 2025 takes place over May 20 and May 21, but the main event is the Google keynote, which starts at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, which is 3am on May 21 for those in the AEST time zone.
The keynote will likely be around two hours long based on past form, and you’ll be able to live stream it from Google’s I/O website, and also on the Google YouTube channel.
We’ve embedded the YouTube video below, so you can watch it without even leaving this page if you want – and if you click the ‘Notify me’ button on the video, you can get a notification when the event is about to start.
One feature I expect Google to talk more about today is AI Mode. TechRadar writer Eric Hal Schwartz has tried Google's AI Mode and says it might be the end of Search as we know it.
In his feature about the user experience he says, "There's always a lot going on in my area, but finding information on what's on can often be tough. Instead of checking six different websites and hoping they’ve been updated, I asked Google through AI Mode: “What are some local events happening in the Hudson Valley this weekend?”
As you can see above, the AI responded almost instantly with a tidy roundup of events. The list of links to the right showed where it was pulling from, and each event had a short description and details of location and time, as well as a hyperlink to where the information came from. The diversity of sources stood out, and I can't deny it was faster than a regular search plus time spent opening each site to see what was listed."
Think of AI Mode as Google's take on ChatGPT Search, although, are we ready to fully embrace AI search yet? I'm not so sure.
On Google's official website for the event, it says, "Discover how we’re furthering our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."
This makes me think we're going to see some big improvements to Google Search, and maybe even a wider roll-out of AI Mode.
AI Mode launched in beta earlier this year, bringing artificial intelligence to the forefront of the Google Search experience. Whether you love it or hate it, AI looks like it's here to stay, and Google Gemini is probably going to play a part.
Google I/O 2025 starts in around 9 hours, at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET / 6 pm BST. That gives us loads of time to take you through everything we expect to see at Google's headline keynote.
There's going to be loads of AI, maybe some Android, and definitely some surprises, so you won't want to miss what the tech giant has up its sleeve.
Welcome to TechRadar's Google I/O 2025 live blog! John-Anthony Disotto, Senior AI Writer, here to take you through the first few hours of today as we build up to one of Google's biggest events of the year.
So grab a coffee, set this tab up to the side of your monitor, and get ready for a huge day in the world of tech!