Summary
- Google Chat’s AI summaries are now available for 1:1 conversations, in addition to group chats.
- Additionally, these Gemini-powered summaries can now be generated for messages you’ve read already.
- In another change, Google Chat adds real-time markdown styling and code formatting to the app’s compose bar.
The Google Chat app was spotted working on an AI summaries feature in April last year. This feature would allow users to leverage Gemini to summarize unread group messages, threads, or spaces. Google took the wraps off the summaries feature in October, though it wasn’t available for private messages. But that’s finally changing.
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In a weekly Workspace blog post, Google said AI summaries can now be generated for direct 1:1 messages, in addition to group texts, spaces, and threads. With this inclusion, eligible users should find the Summarize button next to 1:1 conversations in Google Chat’s home view. On Android, summaries can be generated by long pressing a conversation from the Home tab.
AI summaries in Google Chat are no longer limited to unread conversations
The web and mobile versions of Google Chat’s AI summaries (Source: Google)
In another minor change, Google Chat will now let you get a summary of the conversation “regardless of read state.” This means you can get an AI summarization of the chat even if it has already been opened/read. It’s worth noting that AI summaries in Google Chat are only available under the Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus plans.
Sticking with the messaging app, Google shared that it will now support markdown styling and code formatting in real time, as shown in the brief video above. While formatting options already exist in Chat, users can only see the result after sending a message. This change will give users a better sense of what the formatted text looks like before hitting that send button.
Google also makes a Gemini-related announcement in its Workspace blog post, saying it is “extending” Gemini file uploads to all app users, something we learned about over a week ago. However, free users will be limited to a 32,000 token context window, while there will also be limits on file uploads.
Lastly, Google Vids, the company’s video creation app, is adding a new looping animations feature to give creators more flexibility with moving elements. This follows the addition of seven new AI-based voiceover options to the app just yesterday.
