Google is weaving its Gemini AI directly into the fabric of its Workspace applications, moving the assistant from a separate tool to a built-in collaborator. Starting now for Workspace and AI plan subscribers, the changes are designed to make AI assistance appear exactly where work happens.

In Google Docs, a new Gemini chat window opens at the bottom of the screen. Instead of just offering short suggestions, users can describe the document they need. Gemini will then draft it, pulling context from the web, Drive, Gmail, and Chat, and apply full formatting. A new 'Match writing style' feature can analyze a colleague's text and rewrite selections to blend in. All AI edits appear as private suggestions until approved.

Spreadsheet creation is also getting an overhaul. You can instruct Gemini to build an entire Sheet—structure, data, and all—from a description. It can populate columns with real-world data, like company revenues, sourced from the web or your files. Google demonstrated how it could optimize complex tasks, such as employee scheduling to maximize profit.

For Slides, Gemini can generate new slides that automatically match a presentation's design, and edit existing ones. A future update promises to build entire slide decks from a prompt.

Perhaps the most significant shift is in Google Drive. The platform is gaining an AI Overview for natural language searches, returning relevant files or answering questions with citations. A new 'Ask Gemini in Drive' feature lets users query information across their stored files, emails, and calendars.

Yulie Kwon Kim, Google's VP of product for Workspace, stated the goal is to place Gemini 'in the places where people work,' eliminating the need to switch contexts. The features, rolling out in English, come with Google's standard enterprise data protections for eligible subscribers.

Source: The Verge