illions already turn to AI for answers. Now, it may change how they search in the first place.

On Tuesday, Google launched Skills in Chrome, a feature that lets users save and easily call on AI prompts they frequently use. The way it works is simple: users write and save a Skill, or an AI instruction, to their chat history, and the next time they need it, it's easily accessible using a forward slash (/) or the plus sign (+) as a shortcut.

Early testers used it for repetitive tasks such as calculating protein macros for recipes or comparing specs side by side while shopping, according to Google. To facilitate the use of Skills, Google is also launching a library of ready-to-use Skills in Chrome that users can try out of the box or customize.

If you've been noticing the word "skills" popping up a lot lately, that's because AI skills are one of the biggest trends in the space right now. At their core, they're an extension of AI agents: a bundle of instructions that saves you from typing out the same conditions every time you want to trigger an action. Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini all offer their own version of agent skills, with Anthropic Claude’s version getting the most buzz on Twitter/X.

Since Skills can instruct agents on what to do, Google attempts to quell apprehensions of AI agents going rogue by reassuring users that these skills are built “on Chrome’s foundation of security and privacy, and they utilize the same safeguards we apply to prompts in Gemini in Chrome.” Furthermore, the Skills prompt will ask for confirmation before taking certain actions.

Skills are being rolled out to Gemini in Chrome on desktop, and will be available on any signed-in Chrome desktop device.

Our Deeper View

More and more, we are seeing web browsers adopt AI features, serving as an alternative to "AI search engines" such as Perplexity, which people thought would be the next big thing when AI first blew up in popularity around 2023. Subtly infusing AI features into existing desktop applications makes AI more accessible to a broader range of users, even those who are reluctant to use it, without requiring context switching or adding yet another tool to their workflow. Google has already seen significant success with this approach, as AI Overviews in traditional Google search accumulate billions of views each month.