Google announced they're expanding AI Mode to 180 more countries (more to come) - but it's still only available in English. Other AI Mode updates:

• Agentic experiences in AI Mode - starting with restaurant reservations, coming soon to appointments & tickets
• Personalized results - in Labs for now, again starting with restaurants
• Share links to AI Mode responses - people you share the link with can ask follow-ups and carry on the convo if desired (just in the U.S. for now)

Ever notice how Google always starts with restaurants when they're rolling out new SERP features? I had a great chat with Gemini about why and it makes total sense (and there's way more to it than I realized):

• Nearly universal experience - there's a large cohort of SE users looking for a place to eat
• High intent - people looking are very likely to take action (and spend money)
• Lots of data types - fulfilling the intent of looking for a restaurant nearby is a deceptively complex task that means synthesizing a lot of different data, including structured (NAP, hours, etc), unstructured (tons of reviews in various places) & multimodal (images & video from different sources)
• It's a good opportunity for handling complex, conversational queries - e.g. "Find me a trendy place for a celebratory dinner in the Third Ward that's not Italian but has great vegetarian options."
• Attractive subject matter - when Google shows examples of how the new thing works, showcasing imagery of beautiful settings, dishes, and dynamic maps is more compelling than using dry historical facts or sports stats as the demo