Google Maps releases new AI tools that let you create interactive projects (techcrunch.com)

Google Maps has rolled out a suite of AI-powered developer tools—driven end-to-end by Google’s Gemini models—designed to speed the creation of interactive, map-centric projects. Key launches include a builder agent that generates prototype map apps from natural-language prompts (e.g., Street View tours, live weather overlays, or lists of pet‑friendly hotels), plus a styling agent to apply brand-consistent color and theme rules. Generated projects can be exported, previewed with your own API keys, and edited in Firebase Studio. Google also introduced Contextual View, a low-code Maps component that returns visual answers (list, map, or 3D) to grounded questions like “How far is the nearest grocery store?” Technically notable are the new grounding capabilities: Grounding Lite and an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server let developers link AI assistants to Google Maps documentation and external data sources, enabling assistants to fetch precise, up-to-date location info and API usage guidance. The MCP server and recent Gemini CLI extensions make it easier to query Maps APIs programmatically and to ground custom models in Maps data. For the AI/ML community this lowers barriers to building multimodal, grounded assistants and rapid map-based prototypes, improves developer productivity with low‑code tooling, and strengthens integration patterns for real-world grounding and context in LLM/assistant workflows. Google is also adding consumer-facing Gemini features in Maps, including hands-free navigation and localized incident/speed-limit info in select regions.