Latest AI News
Google brings Gemini in Chrome to India
Google announced Wednesday that it is bringing Gemini integration for Chrome to new regions, including India, Canada, and New Zealand. The rollout will let users use Gemini in Chrome through a sidebar on desktop, enabling them to ask Google’s AI chatbot questions about the content on the screen, get information from their Gmail, Keep, Drive, and YouTube, and compare tab contents. As part of the new rollout, Gemini will also support languages including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil, in addition to English and Chrome’sother newly supported languages. Google first introduced Gemini in Chrome in the U.S. through a floating window last September. The company introduced sidebar-based Gemini tools earlier this year. Users who get access to this feature will see an “Ask Gemini” icon on the tab bar, which they can activate for any tab and ask questions, summarize content, or create a quiz to understand a topic. Google said that Gemini can also work across tabs. This means you can mention multiple tabs to get an answer, which is helpful when you are comparing items to shop for or tickets to buy for a trip. Gemini can also connect with different tools, get your information, and give more personalized answers. It can connect to Gmail, Maps, Calendar, YouTube, and other Google apps for contextual answers, too. For instance, you can directly compose an email using Gemini in the sidebar on Chrome and send it to someone without leaving the window. You can also ask Gemini to summarize a YouTube video and list the main points alongside timestamp markers. The assistant can also schedule meetings or brief you about your day. Loading the player… Users can also use Google’s Nano Banana 2 generative AI tool directly in Gemini for Chrome to transform images. For instance, you can upload a photo of your room while buying furniture and ask the assistant to transform the image to see how an item would look in the room. The company said that, along with desktop, it is also rolling out Gemini support in Chrome for iOS in India. When available, the option will show up in the address bar through a page tools icon. Google in January launched increasedagentic capabilities, which can take over your browser and complete tasks on your behalf, for U.S.-based AI Pro and AI Ultra users. The company is keeping this function out of the latest expansion for users in India, New Zealand, and Canada.
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AI-powered apps struggle with long-term retention, new report shows
With the top app stores flooded with AI apps, developers may think the best bet for turning a profit is to integrate artificial intelligence technology into their own products. However, a new study focused on the subscription app ecosystem across iOS, Android, and web is calling that assumption into question. RevenueCat, a company that offers subscription management tools used by over 75,000 app developers, said in its2026 State of Subscription Apps Reportthat AI integration is not a guarantee of long-term retention. Instead, AI-powered apps struggle to retain subscribers, with people canceling their annual subscriptions — a metric known as churn — 30% faster than non-AI apps, at the median, according to the report. The report is based on an analysis of the subscription app providers that useRevenueCat’s toolsto manage their more than 1 billion in-app transactions, generating more than $11 billion in revenue for developers annually. As one of the more popular tools in this space, its data represents a healthy sample in terms of trend analysis. Among the many interesting findings, the report noted that most of the apps using the company’s platform are not yet powered by AI. AI-powered apps account for 27.1% of apps across all categories, compared with 72.9% for non-AI apps. Still, it’s a growing category, as roughly one in four apps is now AI-powered. (To be clear, the AI-powered apps category includes the popular AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Gemini, as well as any app that markets itself as being AI-powered.) Photo & Video apps have the biggest share (61.4%) of AI-powered apps, while gaming has the smallest share at 6.2%. Travel (12.3%) and Business (19.1%) are also low-AI segments. The more surprising figures are around AI apps’ ability to retain their paying customers. AI apps underperform on retention at both a monthly and annual level, RevenueCat’s data shows. Annual retention, a metric focused on the app’s ability to retain subscribers after 12 months, was 21.1% for AI apps, compared with a higher 30.7% for non-AI apps. Monthly, AI apps saw 6.1% retention rates versus 9.5% for non-AIs — a difference of 3.4 percentage points. The only area where AI led on retention was on the weekly front, where AI apps had 2.5% retention rates compared with 1.7% for non-AI apps. It’s worth noting that weekly subscriptions are not the most popular option for AI apps. These metrics could be influenced by the rapidly changing state of AI technology, which could see users hopping between different AI apps more quickly, as they try to find the one that has the most current technology under the hood. As customers experiment with a growing number of AI apps, they’re also more likely to find that some don’t meet their needs. The report notes that AI apps have 20% higher refund rates (4.2% vs. 3.5% at the median) than non-AI apps do. The upper bound of refund rates for AI apps is also higher (15.6% vs. 12.5%), suggesting there’s “greater volatility in realized revenue and deeper issues in user value, experience, and long-term quality,” the report notes. There are some benefits to being in the AI-powered apps cohort, the data indicates. RevenueCat found that AI apps convert users from trials to paid customers 52% better than non-AI apps (8.5% vs. 5.6% at the median), and AI apps monetize their downloads around 20% better than non-AI apps (2.4% to 2% at the median). AI apps also generate 39% or higher monthly realized lifetime value (RLTV), a metric that measures the actual net value of an average paying user over time. AI apps’ median on this metric is $18.92 per month, compared with $13.59 for non-AI apps. AI apps also sustain a 41% or higher RLTV on an annual basis, at $30.16 vs. $21.37, also at the median. The overall takeaway from the report’s findings is that AI can drive strong, early monetization, but these apps are struggling to sustain their value with customers over time.
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Amazon launches its healthcare AI assistant on its website and app
Amazonannouncedon Tuesday that it’s expanding access to its healthcare AI assistant to its website and app. The assistant, called Health AI, was previously only available on the app for One Medical, the healthcare companyAmazon acquired for $3.9 billion in 2023. Health AI can answer questions, explain health records, manage prescription renewals, book appointments, and more. Users don’t need to be Prime subscribers or One Medical members to use the assistant, Amazon says. Amazon says that while Health AI can answer general health questions without having access to an individual’s medical information, it’s designed to serve as a personalized health assistant that can offer more tailored guidance and take actions, such as connecting you with healthcare professionals and treatments. Of course, there are risks associated with sharing your health information with AI, andresearchersarewarning againstdoing so, cautioning that companies are pulling user conversations for training. Amazon said in its announcement that it trains “Health AI models on abstracted patterns without directly identifying information.” For example, if multiple patients ask about medication interactions, Amazon says it might use these patterns, while keeping patient names private, to improve how Health AI responds to similar questions. The company also said that all interactions with Health AI happen within a HIPAA-compliant environment, and that conversations are protected by “encryption and strict access controls.” However, Amazon didn’t share exactly how conversations are encrypted and who has access to them. TechCrunch has reached out for specifics. With a user’s permission, Health AI gets access to their health information through the Health Information Exchange, which is the nationwide secure system for sharing patient medical data. Health AI can then interpret your lab results, diagnoses, and medical records to provide accurate, personalized answers about your symptoms and medication, Amazon says. If you need professional care, Health AI can connect you to a One Medical provider. Prime members in the U.S. using Health AI receive up to five free direct-message care consultations with a One Medical provider for over 30 common conditions, including cold and flu, allergies, acid reflux, pink eye, UTIs, erectile dysfunction, anti-aging skin care, hair loss, and more. Non-Prime members can connect with One Medical providers through Amazon’s pay-per-visit option. Users can sign up for Health AI on theAmazon Health page. As Amazon expands access, users will receive an email once they are able to access the assistant. Once users have access, they need to create a or sign in to their personal Amazon Health profile. They can then start a conversation by typing their health question to Health AI on Amazon.com or in the Amazon app. Users can ask questions like “Can you explain my recent cholesterol results and what they mean for me?” or “I’m feeling congested and have a sore throat. What should I do?” Amazon’s expansion of Health AI comes as popular AI services have quickly moved into the healthcare space. In January, OpenAI releasedChatGPT Health, a version of its chatbot tailored to answer health questions. A week later, Anthropic announced its own healthcare-focused product,Claude for Healthcare.
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Meta acquired Moltbook, the AI agent social network that went viral because of fake posts
Meta acquiredMoltbook, the Reddit-like “social network” where AI agents usingOpenClawcan communicate with one another. The news was first reported byAxiosand later confirmed to TechCrunch. Moltbook is joining Meta Superintelligence Labs, a Meta spokesperson told us. Moltbook creators Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr will join the team as part of the acquisition. Deal terms were not disclosed. “The Moltbook team joining MSL opens up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses. Their approach to connecting agents through an always-on directory is a novel step in a rapidly developing space, and we look forward to working together to bring innovative, secure agentic experiences to everyone,” the Meta spokesperson said. The viral OpenClaw project was created by vibe coder Peter Steinberger, who has sincejoined OpenAIas part of a similar acqui-hire. OpenClaw is a wrapper for AI models like Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok, but it allows people to communicate with AI agents in natural language via the most popular chat apps, like iMessage, Discord, Slack, or WhatsApp. OpenClaw blew up among the tech community, but Moltbook broke containment, reaching people who had no idea what OpenClaw was, but who reacted viscerally to the idea that there was a social network where AI agents were talking about them. In one instance, apost went viralin which an AI agent appeared to be encouraging its fellow agents to develop their own secret, end-to-end-encrypted language where they could organize amongst themselves without humans knowing. But researchers soon revealed that the vibe-coded Moltbook was not secure, meaning that it was very easy for human users to pose as AIs to make posts that would freak people out. “Every credential that was in [Moltbook’s]Supabasewas unsecured for some time,”Ian Ahl, CTO at Permiso Security, explained to TechCrunch. “For a little bit of time, you could grab any token you wanted and pretend to be another agent on there, because it was all public and available.” It is not immediately clear how Meta will incorporate Moltbook into its AI efforts, but some Meta leaders had commented on the project during its viral moment. Last month, Meta CTOAndrew Bosworth was askedabout the AI agent social network in an Instagram Q&A. He said he didn’t “find it particularly interesting” that the agents talk like us, since they are trained on massive databases of human material. Rather, Bosworth was intrigued by how humans were hacking into the network, which was not a feature but a large-scale error.
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AgentMail raises $6M to build an email service for AI agents
Just a couple of years ago, AI agents were mostly chatbots that could use basic tools. People werecurious, but givenconcerns around reliability and security, as well as cost, the tech remained in the realm of early adopters. How things have changed. Coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor initially saw the most traction, spurring adoption among programmers around the world, but today we have people using AI agents to do everything from debugging at scale and building marketing campaigns, to managing calendars and scheduling meetings.OpenClaw‘s blockbuster debut earlier this year only sped things up, opening up access to AI agents by letting users run their own localized and personalized agent round the clock. And if the tech industryis to be believed, AI agents are set to become as numerous as real people on the internet, using software and services, talking and shopping on your behalf, and generally automating a wide swathe of work. AgentMail, a startup out of San Francisco, sees that future playing out for certain, which is why it has built an email service designed specifically for AI agents. The company provides an API platform that lets you give AI agents their own email inboxes, with support for two-way conversations, parsing, threading, labeling, searching, and replying. The company on Tuesday said it had raised $6 million in a seed funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Y Combinator, Phosphor Capital, and angel investors Paul Graham, Dharmesh Shah (CTO of HubSpot), Paul Copplestone (CEO of Supabase), and Karim Atiyeh (CTO of Ramp). Alongside the funding, AgentMail also announced an onboarding API that you can point your AI agent to so it can directly sign up and create an email inbox for itself. The platform also lets you set up and manage inboxes, permissions, allowlists, and API keys manually. According to co-founder and CEO Haakam Aujla (pictured above, far right), AgentMail was built from the ground up to provide AI agents a similar inbox experience as people get with services like Gmail or Outlook — except without the UI elements humans need. (Note: The platform provides a perfectly human-usable interface, too, for managing the various agent inboxes, and reading and sending emails.) “When you open Gmail, you have a bunch of threads, and inside each thread, you can have many messages; those messages can have attachments. You want to be able to label them, search them, filter them, reply, forward,” Aujla told TechCrunch. “We thought we wanted our agents to be able to do that, but they shouldn’t have to, you know, click buttons on a screen, because that’s pretty clunky for agents to do. They should just be able to make API calls.” Since launching as part of Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch, the company has attracted tens of thousands of human users, and hundreds of thousands of “agent users,” Aujla said, as well as more than 500 B2B customers. The initial days were slow, however, as AI agents hadn’t really taken off yet. AgentMail, therefore, focused on B2B use cases for companies that wanted to things like scale their email communications. But when OpenClaw (then known as Clawdbot) burst onto the scene in late January, AgentMail saw its user count triple that week, and quadruple in February as people started looking for a way to give agents an email inbox so they could do more on their own. The timing was just right, as traditional email providers like Gmail impose rate and volume limits on their email APIs. AgentMail, meanwhile, providesa pretty generous free tier, in addition to paid plans and enterprise subscriptions. But there’s an obvious issue with giving email inboxes to AI agents: it makes misuse easy. To counteract abuse, Aujla said AgentMail has a few systems: Agent inboxes can only send 10 emails a day unless they’re authenticated by a person; the platform imposes rate limits if it detects unusual levels of high activity from inboxes; monitors for bounce rates; and randomly samples new accounts to filter for sensitive keywords. Aujla says beyond providing a way for bots to send and receive emails, AgentMail’s larger purpose is to serve as an identity layer for AI agents: “We want to give agents the ability to use email in the same way that humans do, right? But the idea is, what humans use email for is not even communication. It’s your identity […] There are several startups that are trying to build new identity protocols for agents, but our thesis is, let’s just use what already works for humans, and what already is so deeply integrated into the entire internet.” “You give an agent an email address, [and] it can now use essentially any software service that already exists.”
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ChatGPT can now create interactive visuals to help you understand math and science concepts
On Tuesday, OpenAIintroduceddynamic visual explanations, a new ChatGPT feature that allows users to see how formulas, variables, and mathematical relationships change in real time. Instead of just reading an explanation or looking at a static diagram, users can now interact directly with interactive visuals. For example, when exploring the Pythagorean theorem, you can adjust the lengths of the triangle’s sides and instantly watch the hypotenuse update. Users can adjust numbers and variables and see changes reflected immediately. To try out the feature, ask ChatGPT questions like “What is a lens equation?” or “How can I find the area of a circle?” ChatGPT will respond not only with an explanation but also with an interactive module you can manipulate. Currently, these visuals are available for over 70 math and science topics, including the binomial square, Charles’ law, area of a circle, compound interest, Coulomb’s law, difference of squares, exponential decay, Hooke’s law, kinetic energy, linear equations, and Ohm’s law. OpenAI plans to expand the feature later on to include more interactive topics. It’s available to all logged-in ChatGPT users. The launch of dynamic visual explanations is notable in that it shifts the tool’s role somewhat — rather than just delivering answers, it asks users to engage with the underlying concepts directly. Whether that translates to deeper understanding will likely depend on how it’s used. As AI continues to transform the way people approach learning, it has sparked heated debates in the education community. Though some educators worry about overreliance on AI, many teachers and students have already embraced these tools, integrating them into daily study routines. According to OpenAI, more than 140 million people use ChatGPT each week for help with math and science, subjects that have traditionally challenged learners. Other major AI companies are also exploring similar interactive features. In November,Google’s Geminilaunched its own interactive diagrams and visuals. This new feature joins other recent ChatGPT educational tools, such asstudy mode, which guides users through problems step by step. There’s also QuizGPT, where users can make flashcards and ask ChatGPT to quiz them on any topic before exams.
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AI-powered apps can make money, but struggle with long-term retention, new data shows
With the top app stores flooded with AI apps, developers may think the best bet for turning a profit is to integrate artificial intelligence technology into their own products. However, a new study focused on the subscription app ecosystem across iOS, Android, and web is calling that assumption into question. RevenueCat, a company that offers subscription management tools used by over 75,000 app developers, said in its2026 State of Subscription Apps Reportthat AI integration is not a guarantee of long-term retention. Instead, AI-powered apps struggle to retain subscribers, with people canceling their annual subscriptions — a metric known as churn — 30% faster than non-AI apps, at the median, according to the report. The report is based on an analysis of the subscription app providers that useRevenueCat’s toolsto manage their more than 1 billion in-app transactions, generating more than $11 billion in revenue for developers annually. As one of the more popular tools in this space, its data represents a healthy sample in terms of trend analysis. Among the many interesting findings, the report noted that most of the apps using the company’s platform are not yet powered by AI. AI-powered apps account for 27.1% of apps across all categories, compared with 72.9% for non-AI apps. Still, it’s a growing category, as roughly one in four apps is now AI-powered. (To be clear, the AI-powered apps category doesn’t only include the popular AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Gemini, but also includes any app that markets itself as being AI-powered.) Photo & Video apps have the biggest share (61.4%) of AI-powered apps, while gaming has the smallest share at 6.2%. Travel (12.3%) and Business (19.1%) are also low-AI segments. The more surprising figures are around AI apps’ ability to retain their paying customers. AI apps underperform on retention at both a monthly and annual level, RevenueCat’s data shows. Annual retention, a metric focused on the app’s ability to retain subscribers after 12 months, was 21.1% for AI apps, compared with a higher 30.7% for non-AI apps. Monthly, AI apps saw 6.1% retention rates, versus 9.5% for non-AIs — a difference of 3.4 percentage points. The only area where AI led on retention was on the weekly front, where AI apps had 2.5% retention rates compared with 1.7% for non-AI apps. It’s worth noting that weekly subscriptions are not the most popular option for AI apps. These metrics could be influenced by the rapidly-changing state of AI technology, which could see users hopping between different AI apps more quickly, as they try to find the one that has the most current technology under the hood. As customers experiment with a growing number of AI apps, they’re also more likely to find that some don’t meet their needs. The report notes that AI apps have 20% higher refund rates (4.2% vs.3.5% at the median) than non-AI apps do. The upper bound of refund rates for AI apps is also higher (15.6% vs. 12.5%), suggesting there’s “greater volatility in realized revenue and deeper issues in user value, experience, and long-term quality,” the report notes. There are some benefits to being in the AI-powered apps cohort, the data indicates. RevenueCat found that AI apps convert users from trials to paid customers 52% better than non-AI apps (8.5% vs. 5.6% at the median), and AI apps monetize their downloads around 20% better than non-AI apps (2.4% to 2.0% at the median). AI apps also generate 39% or higher monthly realized lifetime value (RLTV), a metric that measures the actual net value of an average paying user over time. AI apps’ median on this metric is $18.92 per month, compared with $13.59 for non-AI apps. AI apps also sustain a 41% or higher RLTV on an annual basis, at $30.16 vs. $21.37, also at the median. The overall takeaway from the report’s findings is that AI can drive strong, early monetization, but these apps are struggling to sustain their value with customers over time.
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How to use Gemini-Powered Auto Browse Feature on Google Chrome
Gemini in Google Chrome was first launched in September 2025 as a side panel integration in the browser that could answer questions about webpages. However, it was not until January that the feature really began gaining popularity. The reason? The new Auto Browse feature. Similar to Perplexity's Comet or the Dia browser, it can perform tasks such as booking tickets and making a purchase autonomously by taking control of the browser temporarily. Gemini in Chrome is currently only available in the US, but is expected to be expanded to more regions soon.
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Microsoft’s New Copilot Cowork Can Take Actions and Autonomously Complete Tasks
Microsoft introduced Copilot Cowork, an agentic AI tool for enterprises, on Monday. Built using Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence (AI) models and the Work IQ intelligence layer, the tool is aimed at transforming Copilot's capabilities from chats to actions. In practice, it will gain agentic capabilities by drawing context from the Microsoft 365 suite of applications and then performing these tasks without needing connectors or complex integration with enterprise systems. The Redmond-based tech giant says that users will be able to automate a range of tasks using Copilot Cowork.
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Sandbar secures $23M Series A for its AI note-taking ring
Sandbar, a startup by former Meta employees Mina Fahmi and Kirak Hong, attracted much attention last year when it showed off its note-taking wearable, the Stream ring. The company has now raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by Adjacent and Kindred Ventures. The company’s smart ring is focused on note-taking, similar to products byPlaudorOmi, and not health-tracking like Oura’s products. The ring has a microphone that’s off by default, but can be activated using a flat, touch-sensitive panel at the top. You can hold this touch panel to record notes, chat with an AI assistant on the accompanying phone app, and access media controls like play, pause, skip tracks, and control the volume. Notably, the mic on the ring seems to be tuned for proximity, so you have to lift your hand to your face in order to take notes. Fahmi, who previously worked at startups like CTRL-Labs and Magic Leap, said Sandbar has been working on the ring for over two years, before coming out of stealth last year following a testing phase with friends and early adopters. “The response [to the launch] was a lot warmer than we expected, which is really encouraging and meaningful,” Fahmi told TechCrunch. “A lot of people said they could see themselves wearing this.” Fahmi said the startup is seeing promising traction from its early users, with the first batch of pre-orders for the ring selling out last year, which spurred Sandbar to open up a second batch to meet demand. He said some users use the ring over 50 times a day for tasks like planning presentations, trips or meals. The startup plans to start shipping the smart ring this summer. Sandbar said it is focusing on refining its app experience and what users can do with their recorded notes. The company is working on a web platform, improving its user interface, and reducing the latency of model responses. In the long term, the company wants to enable agentic workflows to enable users to take action using their notes. Fahmi pointed out that Sandbar is working on implementing conversational exchanges into its product, as many of its users ask the app’s AI assistant about notes they didn’t manage to complete recording. “Something that we think is necessary is back and forth conversation. Unlike a lot of experiences where you just say one command and it’s either transcribed or acted upon, like, via a smart speaker, Stream is really good at iterative tasks which begin, maybe in conversation or editing a note, but hopefully expand to multi-turn conversations, where you’re Claude Coding in your terminal and you are clarifying things [via voice],” Fahmi said. Sandbar’s phone app currently only works with the Stream ring, but the company said it is considering opening up access to people who don’t own the ring. The app can be used on its own to take notes in case the ring is charging or has been misplaced. Sandbar currently has 15 employees, who have previously worked at companies like Amazon, Fitbit, Equinox, Google, and Apple. With the new fundraising, it plans to double its software and machine learning teams, and hire marketing staff. The category of hardwaredevices for notetaking is growing. Companies likePlaudare producing devices that can take notes for meetings, andPebbleaims to ship a cheap $75 ring this year. Then we have startups likeTaya, which are taking a premium approach by designing their products as jewelry to target a wider user base. Adjacent’s Nico Wittenborn has experience in investing in voice-focused startups — he backed Blinkist, which can summarize entire books, when he was with Insight Venture Partners. He thinks that Sandbar’s Stream has a better form factor than other note-taking devices, and the action of lifting your hand to take a note signals the intent of a private use case, unlike other note-takers that might record conversations around you. Wittenborn also thinks some of the hardware out there caters to only “tech bros,” and Sandbar’s form factor makes it suited for widespread adoption. The startup previously raised$13 million from True Ventures last November. Sandbar has raised $36 million in funding to date.
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Google rolls out new Gemini capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive
Googleannouncedon Tuesday that it’s bringing a slew of new Gemini-powered AI capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. The new features let users do things like quickly generate fully formatted first drafts, slides, and sheets based on information from their Gmail, Chat, and Drive. The tools are designed to make the apps more personal and capable of helping users get things done faster, right within the platforms themselves, instead of needing to switch to a separate tool or chatbot. A new “Help me create” tool in Docs lets users describe what they want to create, and Gemini will follow their instructions and gather information from Drive, Gmail, and Chat to generate a first draft. For example, you can ask Gemini to “draft a newsletter for our neighborhood association using the meeting minutes from my January HOA meeting and the list of upcoming events.” Once you have a first draft, Gemini can help refine specific sections without regenerating the entire document. You can also use the “Help me write” tool to do things like improve clarity or add details where needed. Additionally, if you have multiple people working on a draft with differing voices and tones, you can now use a new “Match writing style” feature to help unify the documents. Gemini will suggest edits to make the tone and voice consistent throughout the draft. Docs is also getting a new “Match the format” tool that lets you mirror the structure and style of another document. For example, if you find a travel itinerary template you like, Gemini can fill it in with your own trip details by pulling information from your emails, such as flight confirmations, hotel bookings, and rental car reservations. As for Sheets, Gemini is evolving from a tool you work in to a collaborative partner, Google says. With a single prompt, it will pull relevant data from across your Gmail, Chat, and Drive to quickly create a fully formatted spreadsheet. For example, you could ask it to“organize my upcoming move to Chicago. Create a checklist for packing by room, a contact list for utilities, and a spreadsheet to track moving company quotes from my inbox.” For more complex tasks, you can now use a “Fill with Gemini” tool to populate tables even faster. The feature can instantly generate custom text, categorize and summarize data, or pull in real-time information from Google Search. For instance, if you’re managing your college applications, you might have a tracker for all your application details. Instead of manually looking up each school’s deadlines, tuition, and other information, you can set up column headers for the details you need, then let Gemini fill in the table automatically by pulling relevant information from the web. Over on Sheets, you can now have Gemini generate a fully editable slide in your deck that matches your overall theme, drawing on context from your files, emails, and the web. If you don’t like a slide, you can ask Gemini to adjust it by asking it to do things like “match the colors to the rest of my deck” or “make this more minimal.” In the future, Google says Slides will let you create a complete presentation from a single prompt, using relevant context when needed. For instance, you will be able to ask Gemini to “create a 5-slide deck for my upcoming Tokyo trip.” Google also announced that it’s making Drive no longer just a place to store your files, but more of an active collaborator. Now, when you search in Drive using natural language, Gemini will surface an “AI Overview” at the top of your results, like the ones you see on Google Search. The overview summarizes the most relevant information from your files, while citing its sources, so you don’t need to open a document to find what you’re looking for. A new “Ask Gemini in Drive” feature lets you ask complex questions across your documents, emails, calendar, and the web. For example, you could select all of your tax-related files and ask, “What should I ask my tax advisor before filing this year’s taxes?” and get a detailed answer based on your actual data. All the new features are rolling out today in beta and will first be available to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers. They’re available in English worldwide for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and in the U.S. for Drive.
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Zoom introduces an AI-powered office suite, says AI avatars for meetings arrive this month
Zoom’s AI-powered avatars, which can represent users in online meetings, will be available to use later this month, the company announced on Tuesday, alongside news of other tools and services. Notably, the company is introducing its own AI Docs, Slides, and Sheets apps, an AI agent builder for non-technical people, and a voice translator for meetings. The company said its AI-powered productivity apps will be available as a preview in the spring. The AI avatars,announced last year, are thelong-anticipatedphotorealistic avatars that can mimic your appearance, expressions, lip and eye movements. Designed to mine your actions when you’re not “camera-ready,” Zoom says the avatars will work in online meetings as well as in its asynchronous video messaging product. Alongside the AI avatars, the company is adding a deepfake detection technology for meetings to alert participants of possible audio or video impersonation. Other new tools include a suite of AI-powered office apps, including AI Docs, Slides, and Sheets. The company said that, based on meeting transcripts and data from other services, users can create document drafts, spreadsheets with data, or presentations. In addition, Zoom’s AI Companion 3.0 is now coming to its desktop app, after first arriving on the web in September. The company said that the AI Companion’s monthly active users more than tripled in Q4 FY 2026 year-over-year. Workvivo, its app for employee communication, will receive the AI assistant, as well. This assistant can connect to services such as Slack, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Gmail, Outlook, Asana, and Jira to let users ask questions across different knowledge bases. Zoom is not alone in creating AI-first office software. There are established companies likeCanvaand new startups likeContextthat are trying to do the same. Salesforce-owned Slack has also beenadding more AI featuresto its team communication apps. To address the growing interest in agentic workflows, users are now able to create custom agents using natural language prompts that work across surfaces. After creations, users can mention their agents in chat to get tasks done. For developers, Zoom is making its speech, vision, and language intelligence APIs that could be deployed on-prem or in the cloud. Plus, the company is updating its chat experience by using AI to surface key insights and summarize threads. To complement these changes, Zoom says it plans to unify design across different surfaces, such as desktop, mobile, and web, for easier access to AI tools like notes, meeting questions, and transcriptions.
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