Google’s Personal Intelligence Is Now Rolling Out to More Users

Google is now expanding Personal Intelligence to more users in the US. The feature, which allows the chatbot to connect to various Google apps and draw context to generate personalised responses, was first introduced in January. At the time, it was only available to US-based paying users. Now, the capability is available inside the Gemini app, Gemini assistant in Google Chrome, and via AI Mode in Search to those on the free tier. Notably, the Mountain View-based tech giant is yet to expand the feature outside of the US.

Personal Intelligence in Gemini Comes to the Free Tier

In a blog post, the tech giant announced that Personal Intelligence will now be available to all users in the US, including those who are not subscribed to Google AI Plus, AI Pro, and AI Ultra subscriptions. The company said the decision to expand it to more users was made after receiving a positive response from users in the last couple of months.

To recall, Personal Intelligence lets users connect the AI chatbot to first-party Google platforms, such as Gmail and Google Photos, so that the search assistant can reference relevant information from those accounts when answering queries. Google said the feature can pick up cues from emails (reservations or bookings) and photos (locations or people) to provide context-aware suggestions and responses that would not be possible with generic web results alone.

It is different from memory or connected apps, as the feature allows Gemini to proactively look for information from the user's data hubs to find relevant information or contextual hints to the query. For instance, if a user asks for a vanilla pudding recipe, the AI assistant can look through their Google Drive to find a medical record about being lactose intolerant, and automatically suggest a plant-based milk when sharing the recipe.

The feature can be helpful for those users who do not like spelling out everything to the AI and prefer it to have access to their information to have easier interactions. So, if a user wants an estimate for their next car service, the chatbot will be able to find information about the car model, manufacturing year, any ongoing conditions, and more to find an estimate that is closer than a rough guess based on just the model.

However, for those who value their privacy and would prefer not to share access to their data, the feature is turned off by default. Google has also claimed that Gemini will never make proactive assumptions about sensitive data, such as health information, unless it is asked first. It is also claimed that Google will not use data from the connected data hubs to train its AI models.