Google rolls out Gemini in Chrome in 7 new countries

Gemini Integration Expands Across Asia-Pacific

Google has expanded its integrated Gemini in Chrome feature to seven new markets across the Asia-Pacific region, deepening its strategy of embedding AI assistance directly into the web browsing experience. This latest rollout on April 20 continues the phased international deployment that began with a U.S. launch in January, demonstrating Google's push to make its AI models a ubiquitous part of its core products.

The feature is now available on both desktop and iOS in the new markets, with the exception of Japan which is currently limited to desktop. The expansion brings Chrome's sidebar-based AI assistant, which can answer questions across tabs and utilize the Personal Intelligence feature of Gemini, to a wider audience. This allows for personalized interactions by connecting to user data across services like Gmail, Google Photos, Calendar, and Maps directly within the browser. Additionally, users can now use the Nano Banana 2 model for image transformations on the web via the sidebar. The newly added countries include:

• Australia
• Indonesia
• Japan (Desktop only)
• The Philippines
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Vietnam

This expansion highlights Google's tiered strategy for deploying AI capabilities. While foundational features like the sidebar assistant are rolling out broadly, the more advanced agentic functions remain firewalled. The company confirmed that its in-development agent, which can control the browser to execute multi-step tasks on a user's behalf, is still in testing and restricted to paid subscribers of AI Pro and AI Ultra plans within the U.S. This approach allows Google to build a massive user base on the free, integrated tools, establishing a clear pathway to upsell more powerful, autonomous capabilities in the future.

Google is methodically transforming Chrome from a simple gateway to the web into a primary AI interaction layer, leveraging its dominant browser market share to normalize AI assistance and build a funnel for its premium, agentic services.