ChromeOS 144 is here, but the headlining Gemini in Chrome feature is missing

ChromeOS 144 officially began its rollout on January 27th, and if you’re like me, you probably jumped all over that Check for updates button the second you saw the news. For Chromebook Plus owners, this version is supposed to be a milestone: the official arrival of Gemini in Chrome for Chromebook Plus, bringing the AI side panel and new agentic browsing features that are set to arrive on Windows and MacOS as well.

However, even though the update is hitting devices, users across the board are finding that the headline feature is nowhere to be found. If you’ve updated to version 144 and you’re still not seeing that little Gemini spark in your Chrome browser, don’t panic – you aren’t alone and the arrival is likely just around the corner.

The Phased Rollout Reality

As we’ve seen with almost every major Google feature launch, “rolling out” rarely means “available to everyone instantly.” Google typically uses a phased rollout approach for deep integrations like this. While the OS update itself likely provides the platform for Gemini to work, the actual activation will probably happen via a server-side switch.

Google’s own release notes make this quite clear, stating that Gemini in Chrome will be rolling out gradually after the update. This allows them to monitor for bugs or server strain before flipping the switch for the millions of Chromebook Plus users out there.

A thirst for new features

Nevertheless, the hunger for this update is palpable, and for good reason. It’s no secret that the Chromebook landscape has felt a bit quiet lately. While we’ve seen plenty of security patches and small UI tweaks, we haven’t had a substantial feature drop in a while.

Gemini in Chrome changes the game for productivity. The ability to open a side panel and ask the AI to summarize ten open tabs at once, or use “Auto Browse” to handle tedious web forms, may be the first time a Chromebook has felt like a truly “AI-first” machine in a long time. For a platform that lives and breathes in the browser, this is the update that will hopefully allow ChromeOS to flex its muscles a bit.

For now, patience is the name of the game. We’ve waited months for Chromebooks to reach feature parity with other platforms in this regard, so a few more days of waiting for a server-side change isn’t the end of the world. We’ll be keeping a close eye on our own devices and will let you know the second we see the feature go live.