Google tests making AI Mode the default in Search, then says it was an error

A HOT POTATO: The nightmare scenario in which AI Mode becomes the default in Google Search – something the company once suggested would happen – briefly became a reality. But before users had a chance to abandon Chrome in droves, an exec confirmed that it was an error, and there are no plans to make AI Mode the default.

As spotted by Windows Report, a flag in the new Chrome Canary release called Fulfill Searchbox Queries in AI Mode appeared to confirm people's worst fears.

The flag's description explained that it "redirects all normal searchbox queries in the omnibox and realbox to AI mode threads. – Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS."

As you can work out, enabling the flag caused Google Search results to show in AI Mode by default – rather than needing to click on the AI Mode tab at the top like in the regular Google search results.

Google uses Canary to test features for its browser before they appear in the latest stable version of Chrome, though not all of them make the cut.