Google has announced that it is adding an artificial intelligence assistant, named Gemini, to the side panel of Gmail. The company’s Monday blog post also noted that the rollout of this feature on both the web and mobile began the same Monday.
According to the post, the AI assistant is available to its Google Workspace users, with the Gemini Business and Enterprise add-on, the Gemini Education and Education Premium add-on, and Google One AI Premium.
The post also noted that the rollout of this feature follows that of the AI assistant to the side panel of Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Drive.
According to the article, the company said in the post: “While Gemini in Gmail will provide proactive prompts to help you get started, you can also ask freeform questions.”
Otherwise, the company said in the post: “For example, you can ask Gemini to search your inbox for things like ‘What was the PO number for my agency?’, ‘How much did the company spend on the last marketing event?’, or ‘When is the next team meeting?’ And just like that, you’ll have the information to quickly reply without ever leaving Gmail.”
“Today, within the Gmail mobile app on Android and iOS, users can also use Gemini to analyze email threads and see a summarized view, similar to what you can today using the side panel in the web experience,” the company said in the post. Additional mobile features will be added soon, the post said.
In May, during its annual developer conference Google I/O, Google announced that it is boosting Gemini in a way that would allow users to create an AI surrogate.
According to the company, the AI-powered team member will be able to integrate with Google Workspace and execute tailored tasks including, at random, monitoring and managing projects, organizing information, providing insights, tracking trends, and facilitating collaborations.
The news followed Microsoft’s report on expanded functionality of its own AI helper, Copilot, and other AI tools, which are now being used by businesses across industries.
