Google just declared itself a contender in AI design at IO 2026

Google announced Tuesday at its annual Google I/O event that it is launching Pics, a new AI-powered design and image generation app for Google Workspace. The tech giant says it designed the app to be accessible to everyone, from teachers to small business owners.

Pics allows users to generate everything from social media images and invitations to marketing materials and mock-ups, using simple text prompts, without the need for any editing skills or advanced tools. By giving users an easy way to generate images, Google aims to take on popular design apps like Canva, as well as products from AI-native competitors like Anthropic’s Claude Design. Google’s entry into this space signals that AI-powered design is fast becoming a major competitive arena – with real stakes for any business that relies on visual content.

The new app is launching for a group of testers at I/O and will be rolled out to Google AI Ultra subscribers this summer, Google says.

The company recognizes that while AI models can generate high-quality images today, it is still difficult to change just one part of an image. If you get an image that’s almost perfect, but you want to change a small detail, you’ll have to write a brand new prompt and hope the AI ​​doesn’t change too much. Therefore, Pics not only generates images but also makes them easily editable.

Users can enter a prompt and Pics will generate what they need. Gemini powers the editing layer, making every element in a generated design or image fully customizable. You can write a new prompt to make changes, or you can simply click the part you want to change and leave a comment, just like you leave feedback in Google Docs.

You can also edit directly, without leaving a comment or writing a prompt. For example, if you are creating a birthday party invitation and want to change the time on the card, you can do this manually.

Pics is powered by Nano Banana 2, which Google says is a good fit for the app as it supports accurate text rendering, real-world knowledge, and detailed visual output. Pics is also built into Google Workspace by default, allowing visual collaboration between the apps.

Once you are happy with your design, you can download, copy, print or share it with others. You can also pass it along to someone else for a final round of editing before publishing, Google says.

Stay tuned for the rest of the big news from Google IO 2026

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