SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 18, 2026, 14:22 PST
- Google is adding Gemini-powered AI tools to Gmail, including email thread summaries, AI-assisted writing and a new AI “Inbox” view in testing.
- Some features are free, while deeper inbox Q&A and proofreading are tied to Google’s paid AI tiers.
- The shift is reopening privacy questions as AI features process email content and metadata.
Google is pushing a new set of Gemini-powered AI features into Gmail, a change that asks users to weigh convenience against how much of their inbox gets processed by machine learning. Enabling the tools means letting Google’s AI work through email content and metadata — the “about the email” details such as who sent it and when. (Yahoo Tech)
The timing matters because Gmail is one of the world’s biggest communications platforms, and Google is trying to make it less of a message list and more of an assistant. “Today, 3 billion users rely on Gmail,” the company said in a blog post announcing what it called the “Gemini era” for the service. (Blog)
It also lands as tech firms race to bake generative AI — systems that can write text and summarise information — into everyday software. In email, the pitch is simple: fewer open tabs, fewer searches, fewer missed bills. The trade-off is that the tools need access to what’s in your inbox to work.
One of the headline additions is “AI Overviews,” which generate short summaries at the top of long email threads. Google is also adding a way to ask natural-language questions in Gmail search — for example, hunting down an old contractor quote without guessing keywords — but the inbox Q&A is tied to its Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions, Google has said.
Writing tools are expanding, too. “Help Me Write” can draft or rewrite emails from a prompt, while “Suggested Replies” uses the context of a conversation to propose one-click responses that match a user’s style. A new “Proofread” feature adds more advanced grammar and tone edits, similar to third-party tools such as Grammarly.
Google is also testing a redesigned “AI Inbox” tab that breaks from the usual chronological stream. It surfaces “Suggested to-dos” and “Topics to catch up on,” such as a bill due or a package delivery update. Blake Barnes, Google’s vice president of product for Gmail, told reporters the new view is optional and the traditional inbox remains available. Google said the AI Inbox is going first to trusted testers and will broaden “in the coming months.” (TechCrunch)
For users who do not want AI features at all, the settings matter. A consumer guide carried by The Star said Gmail users can switch off the tools by going into Gmail settings and disabling the relevant “Smart” options, rather than leaving them partially active. (The Star)
The bigger question is what happens when an AI system misreads an inbox. Summaries can miss nuance, suggested replies can sound wrong, and priority sorting can bury something important. Privacy is another pressure point: even with opt-in toggles, the features work by processing personal messages, and a misstep could trigger a backlash.
Google has said the AI tools are optional and that it does not use personal Gmail content to train its foundational models, while processing data in an isolated environment. Still, the company is asking users to trust that the line between helpful automation and intrusive analysis stays where it says it is.
Google said its Gmail AI features are rolling out first in the United States in English, with more regions and languages to follow as 2026 unfolds.
