After months of anticipation, Google I/O is finally underway, and there’s a lot to unpack. High-profile stuff like Bard may capture everyone's imagination, and we've been very excited to check out the latest Google hardware, but there's lots more going on. Google's got plenty of Chrome news to share, including 100 API changes coming to the browser, easier porting of Android apps to the web, and support for faster on-device AI and ML computation.

Once they finish coding their main Android app, developers usually have to invest additional resources to create a fully featured web version. At I/O this year Google announced that WebAssembly in Chrome now supports Kotlin and Dart, meaning app devs working with the former can easily copy their Android app features over and deploy right on the web. This means we may see more and more Android apps become platform-agnostic web apps, thanks to Chrome.

Google is also addressing the elephant in the room — generative AI like Bard and our associated privacy concerns rooted in the ML models that improve AI. Hardware-level encryption and on-device data processing have long been two of the best ways to help security. To this effect, Google is introducing WebGPU as an API replacement for WebGL. The new tech uses your device GPU and runs three times faster than WebGL, and Google says ML libraries can run 100 times faster on WebGPU than regular JavaScript. It’s a two-fold benefit for developers and end-users alike — on-device processing to allay security concerns, along with speed improvements. It could even pave the way for privacy-first AI.

To help make web browsing a more consistent experience, Google is a member of the W3C WebDX community group. It has now defined Baseline as the basic features which must be supported on all web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and even Apple’s Safari. The Baseline platform will be numbered by year, with this year’s standard being Baseline 23. It will receive annual updates compatible across all browsers — something like an OS update for the entire web ecosystem, Google likes to think.

At I/O Google also pushed for widespread passkey support to replace the passwords we have been using for years. The Search titan cited Shopify as an example of the benefits from going passwordless, highlighting how its solution is faster and more secure — much like WebGPU. Hundreds of new Chrome APIs are also rolling out, including better support for computer peripherals like MIDI devices and drawing tablets. With integrations like this, living a virtual life where everything just works on Chrome sure seems like an achievable dream.

If you’re interested in the new APIs or Google Chrome’s advancements announced at I/O, you can check out the dedicated YouTube channel and other developer resources on the I/O website.