Imagea: Supplied
Google announced a slate of new artificial intelligence (AI) models, features, and product updates at its annual developer conference, Google I/O, with several innovations set to launch across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The updates, aimed at delivering more intelligent, agentic, and personalised AI experiences, include enhancements to the Gemini AI family and Google Search.
Among the major updates is Gemini 2.5 Flash, a new, efficient AI model designed for speed and cost-effectiveness.
The model, a streamlined counterpart to Gemini 2.5 Pro — which now tops the LMArena leaderboard — is available for preview on Google AI Studio for developers and will launch for public use in the Gemini app starting June.
Google also introduced Jules (jules.google.com), an asynchronous AI coding agent capable of fixing bugs and creating pull requests in parallel.
Jules is now accessible to developers globally, including those in MENA.
In a major update to its core product, Google is rolling out AI Overviews in Search across the MENA region.
Powered by Gemini, this feature offers users instant summaries and relevant links for faster understanding of complex topics. AI Overviews now support multiple languages, including Arabic.
Google’s Gemini app gains new capabilities
Google’s Gemini app is also gaining new capabilities. Gemini Live with Camera is now available on both Android and iOS devices for free. The feature allows users to interact with Gemini using their device’s camera for real-time visual inputs.
Students globally, including those in MENA, can now access AI-powered Quizzes through Gemini on desktop and mobile, offering personalized and dynamic learning experiences.
Additionally, the Audio Overviews feature lets users generate podcast-style summaries of visual content or infographics created with Gemini’s Canvas and Deep Research tools. The feature supports multiple languages, including Arabic.
Google’s advanced image generation model, Imagen 4, is now also accessible to users across MENA, enabling the creation of highly detailed and personalized images from simple text prompts.
Some features, including AI Mode for enhanced reasoning and virtual shopping in Search, Veo 3 for audio-enabled video generation, and Flow for AI filmmaking, remain unavailable in the MENA region.
