Google Adds AI Chatbot to Let Users Customize Discover Feed

Google is adding a chatbot to its Discover feed that lets users type out exactly what kind of content they want to see, according to The Verge. The feature is rolling out to the Google app in the "coming days," the outlet reported.

Users will find the option in the three-dot menu on their Discover feed, The Verge reported. Tapping it opens a chatbot-style window where a person can describe preferences in plain language, such as wanting more posts on a hobby or fewer on a certain topic. The chatbot then confirms the request and lists the types of content it plans to prioritize, according to The Verge. If it gets something wrong, users can add more detail before hitting "Refresh your feed" to apply the changes. Google said the tool will remember those preferences for future visits.

Discover recommends articles and videos based on a user's activity across Google's search engine and other apps. The Verge noted that several social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Bluesky and X, have already added similar AI-driven ways to let users shape their own feeds.

More Ways To Steer Search And News

Google also announced a new "Preferred Sources" button that publishers can embed directly on their websites, according to the company's announcement. Clicking the button adds that outlet to a reader's list of preferred sources without leaving the page, and those sources then appear more often in Google's "top stories" section, AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google said. The company said more than 600,000 unique sources have already been selected through the feature, though it did not say over what period or how that figure compares with use of the older, non-interactive version of Preferred Sources.

Separately, Google said users of the Google News app on Android will be able to personalize their daily audio news briefings by choosing specific topics. The company said those briefings will include source attribution and links to full articles, and that some briefings will include deeper reporting drawn from what Google described as a "news AI pilot program" with participating publishers. Google did not name which publishers are part of that pilot or say how many are involved.

Google framed the changes as giving users more control over their feeds and helping publishers build closer ties with readers, though the company did not disclose how the chatbot tool decides what to prioritize or say whether the audio briefing changes are limited to Android users in certain countries.