Google recently announced that it was rebranding its AI-powered research assistant, NotebookLM, to “Gemini Notebook,” a change which takes effect immediately. This isn’t the first time that Google’s changed its branding though—Gemini Notebook was first unveiled back at Google I/O 2023 under the codename “Project Tailwind,” but why the second name change?
According to Google, while the feature remains a standalone product, the renaming marks a deeper integration into the broader Google ecosystem in general. This does make sense given how Google is focusing all of its AI branding efforts around the Gemini platform, so this new change is somewhat unsurprising as well.
Google says that Gemini Notebook now caters to over 30 million users and 600,000 organizations, and adds that it’s rolling out a major infrastructure upgrade which will equip every notebook with a secure cloud computer. This essentially allows Gemini Notebook to natively write and execute code based on a user’s source documents.
With that said, new advanced coding and analysis features are also available starting now for Google AI Ultra subscribers, as well as Workspace business customers with AI Ultra or AI Expanded Access. Google plans to roll out these capabilities to all Pro web users over the coming weeks.
Moving forward, users will also be able to access, create, and sync their research seamlessly between the standalone Gemini Notebook interface and the core Gemini app. Google also confirmed plans to integrate the notebook functionality directly into the “AI Mode” feature within Google Search in the near future.
