Google has launched a new beta feature called Personal Intelligence in the Gemini app, designed to personalize answers by securely connecting Gemini to a user’s Google apps with a single tap. The feature is rolling out in the U.S. to eligible Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra subscribers, with access expanding over the next week.
Personal Intelligence is meant to make Gemini more helpful by letting it pull relevant details from a user’s connected information—such as emails and photos—and then reason across those sources to respond in a more tailored way. Google says the capability can work across text, photos, and video and can also generate proactive results, such as tying something in an email thread to content a user watched.
What Personal Intelligence does
Google describes Personal Intelligence as having two main strengths: it can retrieve specific details from sources like an email or a photo, and it can reason across complex sources to create a more customized response. Tech-focused coverage of the launch also notes that Gemini can now reason across a user’s connected data to offer proactive results and understand context without the user needing to tell it where to look.
Google’s blog post includes an example in which Gemini helped identify information needed at a tire shop, including pulling a license plate number from a photo and using Gmail to help identify a vehicle’s trim. Google and other coverage also say the feature can help with recommendations—such as books, shows, clothes, and travel—and can support trip planning by analyzing interests and past trips found across connected services.
Connected apps and data sources
In the beta launch, Google says Personal Intelligence can connect Gemini to apps and services including Gmail and Google Photos, and it also connects YouTube and Search. Coverage from 9to5Google adds that Personal Intelligence can work with data from Google Workspace apps (including Gmail, Calendar, and Drive), plus Google Photos, YouTube watch history, and Search services such as Shopping, News, Maps, Google Flights, and Hotels.
Google emphasizes that users can decide which apps to link, and that linking apps is designed to be simple while keeping privacy and security in mind. The company’s rollout framing focuses on using information already in a user’s Google ecosystem to deliver answers that better match the individual.
Privacy controls and guardrails
Google says Personal Intelligence is off by default, and users must choose to enable it and choose which apps to connect. Google also says that even after apps are connected, Gemini will only use Personal Intelligence for a response when it determines doing so will be helpful.
On training and data use, Google states that Gemini does not train directly on a user’s Gmail inbox or Google Photos library, and instead trains on limited information such as prompts and Gemini’s responses to improve functionality over time. Google also says it has guardrails for sensitive topics and aims to avoid making proactive assumptions about sensitive data like a user’s health, while still discussing such data if a user asks about it.
Google also warns that the beta is not perfect and says users may see inaccurate responses or “over-personalization,” where the model makes links between unrelated topics. The company encourages feedback, including using a thumbs-down mechanism when responses feel incorrect or overly personalized.
Who gets access and what’s next
Google says Personal Intelligence is launching as a beta in the U.S. and is rolling out over the next week to eligible Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra subscribers. Once enabled, Google says it works across web, Android, and iOS, and it works with all models available in the Gemini model picker.
Google also says this beta is available for personal Google accounts and is not available for Workspace business, enterprise, or education users. Looking ahead, Google says it plans to expand access over time to more countries and to the free tier, and it has also said the capability is coming to AI Mode in Search soon.
