Gemini is getting a productivity boost as Google adds notebooks to the platform, a feature designed to turn scattered chats into structured projects.
The tech giant on Wednesday announced an update to deepen the connection between Gemini and its AI research tool, NotebookLM, by introducing notebooks that serve as centralized project hubs across both platforms. The integration will now enable users to group conversations, documents, and instructions into a single workspace.
The update gives Gemini more context and helps it handle longer, multi-step tasks.
A new kind of Google Workspace
One of Google’s biggest and largely unspoken flexes is its long list of products, all connected, allowing users to access their information across the Google suite. With this new update, the company may be trying to reinvent Google Workspace, but in this case, everything centers on its AI platform — Gemini.
This could mean that Gemini is gradually being positioned as the central hub of a new kind of Workspace that may not just combine traditional Workspace apps, but every single Google product in existence.
As noted in its product announcement, the introduction of notebooks in Gemini will help users structure their ideas in one place, bringing together chats, files, and custom instructions into a single reference point.
According to Google, this effectively turns each notebook into a special kind of “knowledge base” with more context, allowing users to build on past conversations instead of starting from scratch each time.
Just like the ChatGPT project feature, you can add custom instructions to each project, add files, and move past conversations into a project.
Merging NotebookLM
NotebookLM is a research tool from Google that allows you to upload and work with your own sources. It permits users to upload documents, website URLs, and media files, which it analyses, generates insights, and, for students, also generates a quiz, all while remaining grounded in the uploaded materials.
What sets it apart is its structure: projects are organized into notebooks that store sources, context, and custom instructions in one place. With this update, Google is adopting that same system in Gemini.
Although Gemini AI powers NotebookLM, this update enables both platforms to access resources even more effectively. This results in an even fluid workflow. Quick chats can now evolve into deeper research projects without switching tools.
Availability and future expectations
The feature has begun rolling out to subscribers to the Google AI Ultra, Pro, and Plus plans who use Gemini on the web. For mobile users, free users, and those in some European countries, Google says that the feature will roll out within the next few weeks.
Google ends the announcement promising to bring more useful and productive follow-up updates for notebooks in Gemini.
Also read: Google is expanding Personal Intelligence across Gemini, Chrome, and Search in the US.