Google gives Gmail an AI overhaul as Gemini gains on ChatGPT

Yesterday, Google announced what could be its biggest change yet to Gmail, the world’s largest email service.

The company is adding an optional AI-powered inbox that prioritizes important messages, summarizes long threads, and lets users ask questions of their email the way they would Google’s Gemini chatbot — now built directly into Gmail.

The idea is to turn email into something closer to a living to-do list. By drawing on information from users’ emails and calendars, Gmail will suggest actions, draft responses, and surface what it thinks matters most.

Do people want their email to be a living to-do list? Such questions are immaterial. Google wants Gemini to succeed, so congratulations! Your email will be a living to-do list.

Of course, companies like Apple have promised similar AI integration before and failed, so the features will actually have to work for them to be successful.

Google is giving access to the AI inbox first to “trusted testers” in the US and will make it available to consumers more broadly in the “coming months.”

The Takeaway

So far, Google’s AI efforts seem to be paying off. Traffic to Gemini’s website increased 28% in the last month, according to Similarweb, while ChatGPT’s shrank nearly 6%, though on an absolute basis ChatGPT is still well ahead.

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