On January 14, 2026, Google unveiled Personal Intelligence, a new AI experience with enhanced personalization capabilities. This feature, initially available in the US as a beta, is designed to allow users to connect their Google apps to receive more personalized assistance. Google stated its goal with this feature is to evolve Gemini into a more personal, proactive, and powerful AI.
Personal Intelligence securely connects information from Google apps like Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube Search to help Gemini understand your situation. Users can opt in and out of the connection with a single setting, and they also control which apps are connected. The default setting is disabled, and you can disable it at any time.
The core of this feature lies in comprehensively inferring complex information and accurately finding the necessary details from emails, photos, and videos. Josh Woodward, VP of Google Labs, shared an example of personal intelligence that enabled a tire shop to instantly identify vehicle information and license plates and recommend suitable products based on family travel history. This demonstrates AI experiences that go beyond simple search to understand individual context.
Privacy protection was also a key design principle. Personal Intelligence does not directly use users' Gmail or photo libraries as training data, but only uses them to generate responses to requests. Gemini attempts to explain the sources used in its responses, and users can also choose non-personalized responses or ad hoc conversation mode.
Google stated that this feature is still in beta and could result in over-personalization or inaccurate inferences. They explained that users can participate in improvements through feedback, and that areas such as relationship changes and nuanced preferences are being continuously explored.
Personal Intelligence is rolling out sequentially to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers in the US and is available across web, Android, and iOS. It will be expanded to more countries and to free users in the future. Google emphasized that this new AI experience, combining personalization and controllable privacy, will be the next evolution of Gemini.
