Google says email content is not used to train its AI models
Google has announced a major expansion of AI features in Gmail, including a new personalised “AI Inbox”, AI-powered search summaries and an in-built proofreading tool similar to Grammarly.
The company says the changes are designed to help users manage their email more efficiently by highlighting what needs attention and surfacing key information more quickly.
At the same time, Google is making several AI tools previously reserved for paying customers available to all Gmail users.
At the centre of the update is a new AI Inbox tab, which offers a personalised overview of tasks and updates.
The tab is split into two sections: “Suggested to-dos” and “Topics to catch up on”.
The “Suggested to-dos” area highlights emails that require action, such as reminders about upcoming payments or follow-ups with healthcare providers.
Meanwhile, “Topics to catch up on” groups together updates like shopping returns, deliveries and financial statements, organised into categories including “Finances” and “Purchases”.
“This is us delivering on Gmail proactively having your back, showing you what you need to do and when you need to do it,” said Blake Barnes, Google’s vice-president of product.
He stressed that the standard inbox would remain unchanged and that the AI view could be switched on or off at any time.
“This is simply a new view you can toggle in and out of as you please to cut through the noise of your incoming mail.”
The AI Inbox is being rolled out first to trusted testers, with a wider launch planned over the coming months.
Alongside the new inbox, Google is adding AI-powered “Overviews” to Gmail search.
Instead of relying on keywords, users will be able to ask natural language questions such as, “Who was the plumber that gave me a quote last year?”
Gmail will then scan the user’s emails and present a concise answer at the top of the search results, highlighting key details.
According to Google, the system relies solely on the contents of a user’s inbox and does not draw on external data.
The search overviews and a new “Proofread” writing tool will initially be available only to subscribers of Google’s paid AI Pro and Ultra tiers.
Proofread offers one-click suggestions to improve clarity, conciseness and tone, amending word choice and flagging common mistakes in a similar way to services such as Grammarly.
Google said all of its AI features in Gmail are optional, adding that personal email content is not used to train its foundational AI models and is processed in a strictly isolated environment.
At the same time, the company announced that several AI features previously reserved for paying customers will now be made available to all Gmail users.
These include “Help Me Write“, which can generate an email draft from a single prompt; AI Overviews for threaded emails, which summarise long conversations with multiple replies; and “Suggested Replies”, which use the context of a conversation to propose responses that match a user’s tone and style.
“Many of these improvements are made possible by Gemini 3,” Barnes said.
“These new capabilities begin rolling out today in the US to Gmail users as well as Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. We’re starting with English and excited to roll out more languages and to more regions in the coming months.”
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