Google adds Gemini features to Gmail, message summaries, proofreading

Google is adding more Gemini features to Gmail, providing upgrades like artificial intelligence-generated summaries of email threads, the company said Thursday.

“When you open an email with dozens of replies, Gmail synthesizes the entire conversation into a concise summary of key points,” Google wrote in a blog post. The company said it’s bringing AI Overviews, which shows up at the top of search results, to Gmail inboxes.

The updates come as Google embeds its Gemini AI technology across its wide portfolio of consumer products. Google is counting on its massive customer base to provide an advantage as the company takes on the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic and others in the booming generative AI market. Google says Gmail now has more than 3 billion users.

Driven by its rapid advancements in AI, Google parent Alphabet topped Apple by market cap on Wednesday for the first time since 2019, continuing a rally that made the stock the best performer among tech megacaps last year. Meanwhile, OpenAI soared to a private market valuation of $500 billion late last year, and Anthropic said Wednesday that it’s valued at $350 billion in a new funding round.

Google said its latest updates will be rolled out in phases, and some features will be turned on by default in inboxes, meaning users who don’t want them will have to opt out.

One of the new features is “Suggested Replies,” which Google says uses the context of a user’s emails to create one-click responses. It’s an update to a prior tool called “Smart Replies.” The company is also upgrading a proofreading option for checking grammar and making messages more concise.

Last year, Google’s Gemini integration in Gmail allowed users to do things like search messages, draft emails from prompts, improve grammar and generate custom responses.

— CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos contributed to this report.

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