Palo Alto, CA - The next time you fire up Google Maps on your phone and hit the road, Google's Gemini AI model may be riding along in the passenger seat. Google's popular navigation app has a new AI-powered feature that will not only get you to your destination, but also help you find things worth discovering in the first place.

The biggest feature Gemini has added to Google Maps is now deployed in the Android and iOS versions of the maps app. It generates ideas of places you can go, creates review summaries, and even helps answer follow-up questions about destinations.

But that's not the only change coming to Google Maps; Google Maps is also getting a more detailed view of your route, an easier way to find places to stop along the way, and alerts about hazards while driving caused by weather conditions. There are also new features aimed at helping you find places to park and additional guidance to the actual destination once you've parked your car.

An overview of what will be added to Google Maps and when is as follows.

Google Maps is AI-savvy, analyzing images and data about businesses and places, and updating Google Maps 100 million times daily. As I write this, Maps has been updated 10,000 times,” says Chris Phillips, vice president and general manager of Google's Geo portfolio, which includes products such as Maps, Waze, and Google Earth.”

However, Gemini's inclusion in Google Maps will be more direct for end users. They will be able to have an AI model suggest what is happening in the area, wherever they are searching. Or, as Miriam Daniel, Vice President and General Manager of Google Maps, puts it, “What's nearby?” and not just ask Google, with Gemini, the question becomes, “What can I do?” becomes a question.

An example Daniels gave at a press event announcing a new Google Maps feature was a friend stopping by unexpectedly as a result of an unscheduled rendezvous. Daniels entered a query into Maps asking for “things to do with friends on a night out in Boston” in order to figure out how to spend the evening. The suggestions, created by Gemini and “curated by Google,” included taverns and live music, with information on each of the recommended venues, clubs, and bars.

Tapping on one of the Gemini suggestions, one could read a summary of verified user reviews posted on Google Maps compiled by the AI model. Further down the page, you can ask Gemini follow-up questions such as whether the venue is noisy or has a full bar. Gemini will come up with an answer based on the information collected by Google Maps and the comments from those reviews. [Since this new Google Maps feature extends the app's toolset beyond what people normally use Maps for, it is expected that some prompt will appear to let people know that they can now search for more than just directions from point A to point B.

According to Google, the Gemini integration will roll out this week to both the iOS and Android versions of Google Maps in the US. The company added that there is no timeframe on when other countries are set to get this update, but it appears to be on track to happen once Google gets a chance to tweak the feature based on usage among US-based users.

Other changes to Google Maps are specific to navigation, including an easier way to add stops to your route: when you get directions in Google Maps and tap Add Stops, Google Maps will automatically add landmarks, restaurants, attractions A list of points of interest, including landmarks, restaurants, and attractions, can be created and inserted into the route. This feature is intended to improve discovery of new places in the app as well as simplify the ability to add stops along the route.

Enhanced navigation adds even more information to the map screen, making it easier to find your way in unfamiliar places. Extensive details such as crosswalks and road signs are now displayed on the map itself, and blue lines guiding the route specifically indicate which lane you need to be in to turn, merge, or exit.

Previous improvements to Google Maps that allow drivers to report traffic accidents and other incidents on their route have been extended to include weather issues - think flooded roads, poor visibility due to fog, and unplowed roads as winter approaches in the US.

The final navigation improvement would be to provide walking directions from where you parked to your destination, as well as flagging nearby parking spaces when you arrive at your destination. Street View now highlights the building or location you are headed to, and Google Maps reminds you to save the location of your parking spot before you leave.

The ability to explore stops along your route, weather forecasting features, parking and arrival directions all come to Google Maps this week. The enhanced navigation changes will first appear in 30 U.S. metropolitan areas next month, expanding the functionality.

Google Maps' Immersive View feature, announced last year as a way to provide 3D views of routes using both AI and computer vision, will also be updated. As you may remember, Immersive View not only provides a more realistic view of where you are headed, but can also display expected weather and traffic patterns by adjusting the time you are there.

Google plans to expand Immersive View to 150 more cities starting this week. It will also add navigation details such as flagging tricky turns and indicating where to park. These changes will roll out to Android and iOS this week. [Thanks to AI,] we can provide you with what you need to know before you go,” Phillips said.

Google's Waze app will join Google Maps in adding new features. It will be able to report traffic conditions and road hazards by voice. Even better, Waze will recognize natural speech when reporting accidents. Say, “I'm on Interstate 880, Bumper Tampa,” and the app will recognize that you are talking about traffic congestion at a particular location. If the app needs more information, it asks follow-up questions.

The Android and iOS versions of Waze began this week to enable this new conversation reporting feature in English. This feature will be expanded to other languages and users in the coming months. Meanwhile, an update to Waze scheduled for later this year will allow the app to display school zones on routes.

Developers will get several tools related to Google's mapping products and AI: Google Earth will give city planners access to Gemini, which should speed up data analysis related to mapping tools. App makers will be able to leverage the rich location data of the Google Maps platform and add generative AI capabilities to their apps.