(MENAFN- Live Mint) As the year comes to a close, Google's latest“Year in Search” reveals what the world was collectively curious about in 2025, spotlighting a mix of AI breakthroughs, headline-making political flashpoints, and blockbuster sporting events that dominated the global conversations.

Google's Artificial Intelligence chatbot Gemini topped this year's global search chart, followed by sports frenzy around 'India vs England ' and US political figure Charlie Kirk's assassination.

In terms of most searched personalities, d4vd, Kendrick Lamar, Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Robinson and Pope Leo XIV took the crown for being the year's top global names.

AI took the centre stage on Google's search engine

Google's AI model, Gemini, emerged as a major technology story. It was a top trending search globally, as well as in India. The netizens showed interest in its features and applications as Google advanced its AI capabilities.

The integration of Gemini AI into daily search experiences and new product announcements such as Nano Banana, the AI application's 2.5 Flash Image model sparked curiosity among people.

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The new feature became an instant trend on social media platforms after its launch, largely due to its capability of restoring old photos, generating mini figurines, and editing pictures.

“Nano Banana was a big step in image editing that empowered casual creators to express their creativity,” Google said in a blog post.

Sports remain at the forefront

Google's second most-searched topic was - India vs England, a competitive five-match test cricket series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which took place in England from June to August 2025.

The test series ended in a 2-2 draw, though India won the final test by a narrow margin. This sports event attracted a record viewership and made the rivalry a highlight of the cricketing calendar.

Key news events that sparked global interest

Charlie Kirk is placed third among the most searched names on Google, with search trends peaking after his assassination in September this year.

The American conservative activist and founder of 'Turning Point USA' was a prominent and controversial political figure who was publicly shot during one of his campus debate events at Utah Valley University. The video of his killing surfaced online and was widely covered by the media.

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Kirk's activism drew both admiration and criticism. His supporters hailed him as the epitome of free speech and patriotism, while critics alleged that he was spreading extremism and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric that deepened political divides, according to a Mint report.

His tragic death sparked a national conversation on political polarization, gun violence, and freedom of speech, as people blasted off social media with conflicting views.

Key searches in the report

Here are the top 10 searches on Google:

- Gemini: Google's AI-powered chatbot recently gained worldwide traction after it rolled out its image-generating feature, Nano Banana.

- India vs England: This year's competitive five-match test cricket series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy gained immense viewership.

- Charlie Kirk: The public killing of a major political figure and the founder of Turning Point USA was one of the most discussed topics of the year.

- Club World Cup: The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 was hosted by the United States in June, with the football tournament opener between Inter Miami and Egyptian club Al Ahly.

- India vs Australia: Cricket series between the two countries, which kicked off in October this year, for which India toured Australia, also gained the attention of sports lovers.

- Deepseek: This Chinese AI company disrupted the AI market after it launched powerful, open-source large language models (LLMs) like DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1, which were developed at a significantly lower cost than competing US models.

- Asia Cup: The T20 cricket tournament between eight Asian countries, which took place in the UAE, is also among the most-searched topics. India won the final match against Pakistan.

- Iran: The conflict between Israel and Iran has long been a major International flashpoint, and this year Iran stood out as one of the most searched global topics.

- iPhone17: The launch of Apple's latest iPhone 17 serie, with its newest offering, iPhone Air, sparked massive interest among customers who rushed to get their hands on the devices.

- Pakistan and India: The terror attack in India's Pahalgam region in April this year also made headlines. It killed dozens of civilians and prompted India to retaliate. India's 'Operation Sindoor' was a trending topic on social media during that time.

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