Google adds Gemini AI-powered features to Gmail: What's new and what's free
Google is bringing Gemini front and center in Gmail, introducing a suite of features that the company says will change how 3 billion people email or manage their inboxes every day. The update introduces Search's AI Overviews-like feature for inboxes and an AI Inbox—while the two features are reserved for a selected few , Writing Tools, which have already existed for a while, will now be made available for free to everyone.
Ask your inbox questions like you ask Google Search
The headline feature is AI Overviews , which lets you ask Gmail questions in plain English rather than hunting for keywords. Want to know "Who was the plumber that gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?" Just type it in the search bar and Gemini will pull up a summarized answer from your emails. It's the same technology Google's been using in Search, but applied to your personal messages. The catch? You'll need a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription to ask questions, though everyone gets free AI summaries of long email threads. AI Inbox sorts the noise from what actually matters
Google's also testing a new "AI Inbox" tab that ditches the traditional chronological email list for a personalized briefing. Instead of scrolling through dozens of messages, you'll see AI-generated to-dos like "reschedule dentist appointment" or "pay soccer tournament fee" pulled from your emails. The system identifies important contacts based on who you email frequently and what you respond to quickly. For now, it's limited to trusted testers, with a broader rollout planned for the coming months. Free writing tools for everyone (finally)
On the free side, Google's expanding its Help Me Write tool to all users. It can draft emails from scratch or polish what you've written. Suggested Replies, an upgrade to Smart Replies, will generate personalized responses that match your writing style. Both features are rolling out today at no cost. Premium subscribers get an additional Proofread feature that goes beyond spell-check to refine grammar, tone, and sentence structure—basically Grammarly built into Gmail.
All features are launching first in English for US users, with more languages and regions coming in the following months. Google says the analysis powering these tools happens securely and won't be used to train its AI models.
Ask your inbox questions like you ask Google Search
The headline feature is AI Overviews , which lets you ask Gmail questions in plain English rather than hunting for keywords. Want to know "Who was the plumber that gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?" Just type it in the search bar and Gemini will pull up a summarized answer from your emails. It's the same technology Google's been using in Search, but applied to your personal messages. The catch? You'll need a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription to ask questions, though everyone gets free AI summaries of long email threads. AI Inbox sorts the noise from what actually matters
Google's also testing a new "AI Inbox" tab that ditches the traditional chronological email list for a personalized briefing. Instead of scrolling through dozens of messages, you'll see AI-generated to-dos like "reschedule dentist appointment" or "pay soccer tournament fee" pulled from your emails. The system identifies important contacts based on who you email frequently and what you respond to quickly. For now, it's limited to trusted testers, with a broader rollout planned for the coming months. Free writing tools for everyone (finally)
On the free side, Google's expanding its Help Me Write tool to all users. It can draft emails from scratch or polish what you've written. Suggested Replies, an upgrade to Smart Replies, will generate personalized responses that match your writing style. Both features are rolling out today at no cost. Premium subscribers get an additional Proofread feature that goes beyond spell-check to refine grammar, tone, and sentence structure—basically Grammarly built into Gmail.
All features are launching first in English for US users, with more languages and regions coming in the following months. Google says the analysis powering these tools happens securely and won't be used to train its AI models.
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