Google’s new AI feature connects multiple services
Google has started rolling out a new feature called Personal Intelligence for its Gemini AI system. It’s available right now in beta for Gemini Advanced users in the United States. That includes people who subscribe to Google One AI Premium. The company says wider access will come soon, though they haven’t given exact dates.
This Personal Intelligence feature is interesting because it works across different Google services. Instead of just looking at your Gmail or just your YouTube history separately, it can pull information from multiple places at once. So it might see something in your email, combine that with what you’ve been searching for, and maybe even consider your photo library. The idea is to give more personalized responses.
How the system works
From what I understand, this represents a shift in how Google’s AI operates. Before, Gemini could access individual apps. Now it can reason across them simultaneously. That’s powered by Gemini 3, their latest model. It’s a technical challenge, honestly, to make different services work together like this without creating privacy nightmares.
Google seems to be taking a different path than some competitors. While other AI companies focus heavily on making their models stronger or faster, Google is betting on context and distribution. They have all these services people already use—Gmail, YouTube, Search, Photos. The thinking appears to be that if they can make the AI work well across that ecosystem, it becomes more useful.
Privacy considerations and user trust
But here’s the thing that makes me pause. This feature needs access to a lot of personal data. Google says it’s designed with privacy in mind, but I think users will need to understand exactly what information is being shared between services. The company mentions user trust as part of their competitive advantage, which makes sense. If people don’t trust how their data is being used, they won’t use the feature.
It’s still early days for this technology. The beta launch means Google is testing it with real users to see how it performs. Sometimes these features work better in theory than practice. Other times they surprise everyone with how useful they become.
What’s clear is that Google is pushing hard to integrate AI throughout their products. This Personal Intelligence feature feels like a step toward making AI less of a separate tool and more of a background assistant that understands your digital life. Whether that’s helpful or overwhelming remains to be seen.
