On Thursday, Google announced that Gmail users on Android devices can now access their latest AI assistant feature, Gmail Q&A. This feature has been rolled out to Gemini subscribers and will be available on iOS devices in the future.
The Gmail Q&A feature allows users to interact directly with Google's Gemini AI assistant within the Gmail app. Users can ask the assistant to read and summarize the contents of their entire email inbox. For example, they can request Gemini to highlight the key points of a specific email or search for specific information, such as "How much did the company spend on the last marketing campaign?"
The traditional Gmail search bar remains, but now a Gemini button has been added next to it to help users find information more quickly. Although this feature still references the source email when providing answers, it represents Google's shift from traditional search to an AI chat mode.
Currently, this feature is limited to email access, but Google plans to extend it to user's cloud drive files in the future. Gmail Q&A was first introduced in June, available to users who have subscribed to Gemini or Google One AI Premium, which costs around $20 per month.
Although this feature will not be available to free users for the time being, Google is trying to attract more users to subscribe to its premium services by promoting AI features like Gmail Q&A. Gemini has now been integrated into applications like Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Calendar, providing Google with a new source of revenue.