Google AI Updates: July 8, 2026

1. Google Expands Managed Agents in the Gemini API

Google. Google added four capabilities to Managed Agents in the Gemini API: asynchronous background execution via a background: true flag with pollable task IDs, direct connections to remote MCP servers without custom proxy middleware, custom function calling alongside built-in sandbox tools using a requires_action step-matching pattern, and the ability to refresh network credentials on an existing sandbox environment without losing state. The changes target production agent deployments running as isolated cloud-sandboxed workers. Together they narrow the gap between Gemini’s hosted agent runtime and self-managed agent frameworks. Source