Google Maps adds AI food ordering and hotel booking

Google announced a major expansion of its "Ask Maps" feature on Thursday, August 6, 2026, transforming the navigation app into a proactive assistant capable of ordering food, booking hotels, and finding event tickets. The update introduces new "agentic" capabilities that allow the AI to complete multi-step tasks on a user's behalf, alongside a personalization system that draws from a user's emails and calendar.

The centerpiece of the rollout is a food ordering function. Users can now ask Ask Maps to find and order specific meals, such as requesting spicy pad kee mao with seafood for pickup on a commute home. The tool evaluates open restaurants along the user's route, considers saved places or dietary preferences, and can automatically add items to a cart for checkout. This feature is launching in the United States through initial partnerships with Square and Toast, with Uber Eats integration expected soon.

For travel and entertainment, Ask Maps can now handle complex hotel searches using natural language criteria, such as finding a top-rated, reasonably priced downtown hotel with an "artsy vibe" near a gym. The tool compares real-time prices and checks availability before...