Sundar Pichai unveils the ‘Gemini Era’ for Gmail as AI transforms your inbox

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has unveiled a new suite of artificial intelligence (AI) features for Gmail, calling it the beginning of the “Gemini era" for email.

The Alphabet chief executive said the update is designed to make Gmail smarter, faster, and more intuitive, as the company accelerates its broader push to embed Gemini AI across its core products.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Pichai wrote: “We launched Gmail on April Fool’s Day in 2004. Twenty-plus years later, we’re bringing Gmail into the Gemini era. AI Overviews, suggested personalised replies, Proofread, an AI Inbox with streamlined views, suggested topics to catch up on, and much more.”

The new AI-powered tools aim to make email more intelligent and conversational. Among the most notable additions are Gemini-powered AI Overviews, which automatically summarise long email threads and highlight key points. 

Gmail users will also be able to ask questions directly within an email conversation, allowing Gmail to surface important details such as deadlines, action items, and decisions without the need to scroll through multiple replies.

In a blog post, Google explained that AI Overviews are designed to “turn information into answers without the digging,” synthesising lengthy conversations into concise summaries. 

The company added that conversation summaries are rolling out for free to all users, while the ability to ask inbox questions using AI Overviews will be available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.