Google isn’t done injecting AI into your inbox. At its IO 2026 developer conference on Tuesday, the tech giant announced an expansion of Gmail’s “AI Inbox” feature, adding conversational AI features. This means that instead of typing a search term, you can ask Gmail about items in your inbox.
The company says the Gemini AI-powered feature, called Gmail Live, will help you quickly find information buried in your inbox.
For example, you might need information about upcoming flights, dental appointment times, door codes for Airbnb rentals, details about your child’s school events, etc.
Previously, you had to type keywords into the search box (or even enter someone’s email address or domain) to narrow your search. However, email isn’t always easy to find. This is especially true if your search term is found in multiple messages.
“Gmail Live can answer naturally phrased questions, respond to follow-up questions, and pivot if you need to stop,” Devanshi Bhandari, Gmail’s product lead, explained in a briefing ahead of Google I/O, Google’s annual developer conference, where the feature was first introduced to the public.
This is another way Google is trying to show how its AI technology can drive real-world improvements in products used by millions of consumers, at a time when many outside the tech industry are questioning the value of AI as new data centers are built in their backyards and power bills rise.
Something as simple as making it easier to find something you’ve lost in your email inbox (something almost everyone has experienced at some point) can be a practical, positive use case for AI. Or at least Google hopes.
Bhandari demonstrated Gmail Live to reporters, asking the tool a series of questions about items in their inboxes, including a child’s show-and-tell project, a class trip, and hotel and flight information for a trip to Detroit. Similar to using a standalone AI chatbot like Gemini or ChatGPT, Gmail users can ask these questions out loud in natural language and the chatbot will respond.
In the demo, Gmail Live also understood the subtle differences between ‘field trip’ and ‘travel’ and was able to move from one topic to another, Bhandari noted. AI can also pull granular details like hotel room numbers from emails or infer who you are asking a question about, even if they are not explicitly named.
Similar voice technology will also be added to Google Keep’s to-do list, the company said.
Specifically, Gmail Live doesn’t replace traditional Gmail Search; it’s just another option.
After Google ‘upgraded’ Google Photos with AI-powered search, which drew a lot of backlash, it may have realized that not everyone is ready for an AI-only experience. Google Photos later rolled back the feature, making the use of AI optional after numerous complaints.
Gmail also adds other new features, including instantly sending drafts, instant file access, and the ability to manage your to-dos by marking individual tasks as complete.
Additionally, the AI Inbox experience, launched earlier this year, will expand beyond Google AI Ultra subscribers to Google AI Pro and Plus subscribers. This gives you an overview of the to-do tasks and items buried in your inbox, all on one page.
However, the voice-based Gmail Live feature is scheduled to launch later this summer and will initially be limited to Google AI Ultra subscribers.
Check out the rest of the big news from Google IO 2026
As you know, Google searches are over.
Google has updated its Gemini app to take on ChatGPT and Claude.
Google launches Gemini Spark, a 24/7 agent assistant with Gmail integration
How to use Google’s new information agent
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