Google’s new Gemini update connects your apps for better answers
Google launches a new beta feature for paid subscribers in the U.S.
Google is launching a new feature that lets Gemini dig through your emails and photos to answer specific questions about your life. It is currently rolling out as a beta for paid subscribers in the U.S.
Google is effectively giving Gemini the keys to your digital filing cabinet. The company announced a new feature today called "Personal Intelligence," which allows the AI chatbot to access information stored in your other Google apps, including Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube.
The idea is that instead of manually searching for a specific receipt or scrolling through years of photos to find your license plate number, you can just ask Gemini. It cross-references data—like identifying a car part from a photo and then finding the purchase confirmation in your email—to give a complete answer.
This is launching in beta starting today, January 14, for users with a Google AI Pro or AI Ultra subscription in the U.S. Google notes that this feature is off by default, meaning you have to opt-in to let the AI access your personal data.
If you are a paid subscriber and want to test the beta, you can enable it manually if the prompt doesn't appear automatically:
For a long time, AI chatbots have been great at general knowledge, but terrible at knowing anything about you. This update is Google’s attempt to bridge that gap. By leveraging its massive ecosystem—where many of us already store our lives—Google is trying to make Gemini a practical assistant rather than just a search engine alternative.
However, this level of integration is also the primary concern for many users. Giving an AI model access to private emails and family photos requires a high level of trust. Google stated that personal data accessed this way isn't used to train the base foundation models, which is a crucial distinction for privacy-conscious users. This move also keeps Google competitive with Apple Intelligence, which is banking heavily on on-device, personal context.
This is one of those features that sounds incredibly useful in theory but will live or die by its execution. The example Google provided—finding tire specs from an old photo and cross-referencing it with emails—is a perfect use case for this tech. It solves a boring, real-world problem.
Gemini, but more personalized
Google is effectively giving Gemini the keys to your digital filing cabinet. The company announced a new feature today called "Personal Intelligence," which allows the AI chatbot to access information stored in your other Google apps, including Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube.
Video Credit — Google
How to enable it
- Open the Gemini app and go to Settings.
- Tap on the new Personal Intelligence menu.
- Select Connected Apps to choose which services (like Gmail or Photos) Gemini can access.
A practical assistant
Images credit — Google
It is still beta
This is one of those features that sounds incredibly useful in theory but will live or die by its execution. The example Google provided—finding tire specs from an old photo and cross-referencing it with emails—is a perfect use case for this tech. It solves a boring, real-world problem.
That said, I appreciate that Google is labeling this a "beta." The company admits the AI might "over-personalize" or misunderstand context, like assuming you love golf just because you have photos at a golf course. Since this requires a paid subscription, it’s clearly aimed at power users for now. If you are already deep in the Google ecosystem and pay for the premium tier, it’s worth flipping the switch to see if it speeds up your daily admin tasks. just maybe keep an eye on exactly what it’s pulling up.
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