You can now talk to your Gmail inbox, as seen at Google IO 2026
Source: TechCrunch
Gmail Live: Conversational AI for your inbox
Google isn’t finished infusing AI into your inbox. On Tuesday at their I/O 2026 developer conference, the tech giant announced an expansion of its “AI Inbox” functionality for Gmail, adding conversational AI features. You can now ask Gmail about things in your inbox instead of typing search terms.
The Gemini‑powered feature, called Gmail Live, helps you quickly find information buried in your messages.
Image credit: Google
You might need details about an upcoming flight, a dentist appointment, a door code for an Airbnb rental, or an event at your child’s school. Previously you’d have to type keywords or an email address into the search box, which often isn’t enough when the information is spread across multiple messages.
“Gmail Live can answer naturally phrased questions, respond to follow‑up questions, and pivot if you need to interrupt it,” said Devanshi Bhandari, product lead for Gmail, during a briefing ahead of Google I/O.
The demo showed Gmail Live handling queries about a child’s show‑and‑tell project, a class trip, and hotel and flight details for a trip to Detroit. Like a stand‑alone chatbot such as Gemini or ChatGPT, users can ask these questions aloud in natural language and receive spoken responses. The AI distinguished nuances between “field trip” and “trip,” jumped between topics, extracted granular details (e.g., a hotel room number), and inferred people even when they weren’t explicitly named.
Similar voice technology is also coming to Google Keep’s to‑do list.
Key points
- Gmail Live is an additional option, not a replacement for traditional Gmail search.
- It will roll out later this summer, initially limited to Google AI Ultra subscribers.
- Gmail is also gaining ready‑to‑send drafts, instant file access, and task‑management features (marking individual to‑dos as done).
Image credit: Google
The earlier‑launched AI Inbox experience, which provides an overview of tasks and items hidden in your inbox, will expand beyond Google AI Ultra to include Google AI Pro and Plus subscribers.