Google announced a significant expansion of its Gemini AI within its core productivity suite on Tuesday. The update transforms Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive from static applications into proactive, context-aware assistants that draw directly from a user's personal data.

The new features, now in beta for AI Ultra and Pro subscribers, are designed to eliminate manual data gathering. In Docs, a "Help me create" tool can assemble a first draft by pulling information from a user's Gmail, Drive, and Chat based on a simple instruction, like drafting a neighborhood newsletter from meeting notes. Subsequent tools can refine sections, unify writing styles from multiple contributors, or replicate the format of an existing document.

Sheets gains similar autonomy. A user can prompt Gemini to organize a cross-country move, and the AI will automatically generate formatted checklists, contact sheets, and quote trackers by scanning the user's inbox. A "Fill with Gemini" feature can populate tables with real-time web data, such as college tuition figures, directly into a spreadsheet.

In Slides, the AI can now generate on-theme slides populated with user data. Google says a future update will allow the creation of entire presentations from a single prompt.

Perhaps the most fundamental shift is in Drive, which Google is repositioning as an "active collaborator." Natural language searches now yield an AI Overview summarizing relevant information across files, with citations. A new "Ask Gemini in Drive" feature lets users pose complex questions across their entire digital workspace—for example, analyzing all tax documents to suggest questions for an accountant.

The rollout begins today in English globally for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, and in the U.S. for Drive, marking a clear step toward deeply personalized, AI-native productivity tools.

Source: TechCrunch