Let me get this straight: Gemini in Chrome isn’t coming to Chromebooks?!?

Alright, Google I/O 2025 has just delivered tons of cool new AI features, and one of the standouts is Gemini in Chrome – AI browsing assistant built right into the Chrome browser on desktop, ready to summarize, clarify, and eventually even navigate for you. It sounds fantastic, and we’re genuinely excited about its potential. But as the initial roll-out details settled, one glaring omission has us here at Chrome Unboxed scratching our heads and, frankly, feeling a bit frustrated: it’s launching on Windows and macOS, with ChromeOS nowhere in the conversation.

Come on, Google. It’s ChromeOS. When you create a groundbreaking AI feature for the Chrome browser, the natural, immediate assumption is that your own desktop operating system (which is based on the Chrome browser at its core) would be front and center for the roll-out. And if not first, then at least simultaneously.

To see Windows and MacOS listed for the May 21st initial access with ChromeOS unmentioned feels like a bit of a gut punch. Gemini is Google’s premier AI, Chrome is Google’s browser, and ChromeOS is Google’s desktop OS. The synergy should be automatic. Clearly, that’s not the case.

There’s definite hope – and a strong expectation from us – that ChromeOS support is in the immediate pipeline and will follow very, very quickly. Perhaps there’s a specific technical nuance they are working on for ChromeOS, or maybe it’s there’s a totally different implementation for Chromebooks that we’ll hear about soon. The truth is, we don’t know at the moment, and that silence is part of the frustration.

Regardless, the optics aren’t great. Chromebook users, especially those who might be paying for these new “Google AI Pro” or “Ultra” tiers, are exactly the kind of engaged Google ecosystem users who would be thrilled to test and utilize Gemini in Chrome. Leaving them out of the initial launch, even if temporary, stings a bit. It feeds into that occasional, nagging feeling that ChromeOS sometimes has to wait its turn, even for Google’s own best stuff.

I’m truly hopeful that Google has something planned soon for Chromebooks to make sense of this. This feature looks too good, and the ChromeOS platform is too important within the ecosystem for it to be on the sidelines. We’re excited for Gemini in Chrome, but we’ll be a whole lot more excited when we can use it on our Chromebooks.