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NotebookLM is one of the best AI tools available, and it's been renamed the Gemini Notebook to bring it in line with the rest of Google's Gemini AI suite, the tech giant announced in a blog post on Thursday. Despite the name change and further integration into more Google products in the future, it'll continue as a standalone tool.
Originally launched as an experiment called Project Tailwind in 2023, Gemini Notebook has since been used by over 30 million people and 600,000 organizations, according to the blog post. The project turned into what's possibly the best AI product the tech giant has produced so far.
Gemini Notebook is a research assistant that can help you make sense of your messiest notes or other sources. It's great as a learning tool, but can be used in a variety of ways. What sets it apart from other AI tools is that it only analyzes the sources you feed it (web pages, PDFs, audio files, etc.) and won't search the internet for an answer if the sources don't contain one. For example, if you upload a document about math and then ask it about the biology of dolphins, it'll reply that, based on your sources, it doesn't have the answer.
As a part of the rebranding, Google has given the Gemini Notebook some serious under-the-hood upgrades. Google started rolling out an update last month that gives each Notebook a secure cloud computer, enabling the Gemini Notebook to natively write and execute code. This can allow for more in-depth data analysis of your sources. The update also introduced new output formats, including .json and Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx) files.
These updates are available starting Thursday for Google AI Ultra users and Workspace business customers with AI Ultra Access and AI Expanded Access. AI Pro users on the web will gain access in the coming weeks.
Google has been adding new features to the Gemini Notebook since day one, and it's become an incredibly robust tool since. Notebooks now sync directly with Google Drive, and you can even create Notebooks directly from the Gemini App. Google says Notebooks will soon be coming to AI Mode in Search, too.
