Google I/O 2026 is official: here are 5 things to expect

• Google has announced the dates for this year's I/O
• It will be taking place on May 19 and 20
• We don't know for sure what will be announced, but it's likely to feature Android, Gemini, and more

There was never much doubt that we’d get a Google I/O in 2026, and we could even have taken a good guess at roughly when it would be happening, but now we don’t need to, as Google has officially confirmed the dates.

Google I/O 2026 then will be held on May 19 and 20 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, with the event kicking off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on May 19, which is 3am AEST on May 20 in Australia.

TechRadar will be in attendance, bringing you all the announcements and our reactions as they happen, but what announcements can you expect? Well, Google hasn’t revealed that yet, but below we’ve detailed our best guesses.

1. Gemini upgrades

AI is a major focus for most tech companies lately, and as Google is one of the biggest players in the AI space, we fully expect some upgrades to its AI tools and in particular Gemini.

Indeed, both AI in general and Gemini specifically were mentioned in Google’s save the date for I/O 2026, so we’d be very surprised if they don’t have a major presence at the show.

We can only guess exactly what might be announced on this front, but perhaps we’ll see Gemini get more deeply integrated into phones for example, so that it’s more capable of carrying out tasks on your device. We may also simply see improvements to existing AI features, like Gemini becoming smarter, or AI photo edits becoming more convincing.

2. Android 17 features

Android 17’s first beta is now out, but that doesn’t mean that we know everything to expect from the software, as future betas — and the final release — may well include further changes.

As such, it’s very likely that we’ll hear about Android 17 features at Google I/O 2026. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed, given that Google’s save the date mentions non-specific updates from Android.

We probably won’t be getting the final release here as that’s reportedly landing in June, but perhaps the final beta will launch during I/O. Exactly what this beta might contain is unclear, but we know that Google is working on ‘Motion Cues’ to combat motion sickness when using your phone in a moving vehicle, so perhaps this will be among the announcements.

3. Android XR updates

Android XR is Google’s new augmented reality operating system designed for smart glasses and headsets, but so far there aren't any glasses available that run it, and as far as headsets go there's just the Samsung Galaxy XR.

So we may well see updates and new features for this platform at Google I/O 2026, or simply the announcement of new products set to run it.

Google will probably want to build excitement for this new product category, so whether or not there’s much new to show, there’s a fair chance that Android XR will make an appearance.

4. Aluminium OS

Android XR might have barely launched but Google is also working on a new operating system known as Aluminium OS that isn't available at all yet.

This is a desktop operating system that would combine ChromeOS and Android into one platform, and while Google has said that it plans to do this, it hasn’t said much more about Aluminium OS than that. In fact, even that name (which yes, uses the non-US spelling of aluminum), has only so far appeared in a job listing, and might just be a codename.

That job listing stated that Aluminium OS will have AI at its core and will work across laptops, desktops, and tablets.

And with this information now out in the wild, it seems about time that Google officially said more about Aluminium OS, and I/O 2026 seems the ideal venue, so there’s every chance we’ll hear about this there.

5. Hardware teasers

Google I/O is a developer conference, so its focus is always on software, but that doesn’t mean we never see any hardware there.

So what might we see this year? Well, there are no guarantees, but there’s a chance we’ll get another look at Xreal’s Project Aura smart glasses, as these run Android XR and were shown off at last year’s show, but they — or a similar commercial product — still aren’t available yet. It’s also possible we’ll see other Android XR devices.

What we probably won’t see are any phones in the Google Pixel 11 line, or the Pixel Watch 5, as these will likely launch around August based on past form.

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