The idea was discussed briefly by Ben Gomes, then Vice-President of Search back in 2013. Gomes claimed that Google’s innovation in wearables like Glass were stepping stones toward the company’s ultimate ambition: a microchip that can be embedded in users’ brains. Gomes suggested that research had already begun on this technology and that Google’s aim is to provide search results that directly respond to a person’s thoughts, and respond by wiring them directly to the chip. Gomes said that Glass and other innovations were steps toward that goal.

Author Steven Levy had explored some statements made by the company in his 2011 book, In the Plex. The book hinted that Google has long had this ambition of becoming one with its users’ minds. Levy suggests that it’s not a mistake that the company’s big cell phone product was called the Nexus, since their goal is to create a nexus between users’ minds and the Search Engine. A phone is a logical step, wrote Levy, since the device sits mere inches from a person’s brain.

This week Google’s goal at creating a superintelligence that can talk directly to users is resurfacing. The annual I/O conference is normally a gathering of developers talking shop on products that advance Chrome and Android. It was at I/O that people got a glimpse of Glass and where Google showcases advancements in its browsers and operating systems. This year’s I/O conference is expected to highlight Artificial Intelligence to more than 6,000 attendees. Google recently switched venues from the Moscone Center in San Francisco to the more outdoor location at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Analysts predict that Google will use the conference this year to showcase new advancements in artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, and autonomous wheelchairs for the disabled. All of these products center on a computer program that is increasingly being trained to think and coexist with human intelligence.