Google counters Microsoft with new Gemini AI features in Workspace

Yesterday, Microsoft announced Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 3, a new set of agentic capabilities inside popular Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Microsoft also announced Copilot Coworker, a new Copilot feature that will allow users to not just chat, but instead get things done using agentic AI.

Today, Google announced several new Gemini capabilities that are coming to Google Workspace apps, including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. Read about them below.

Google Docs

• Gemini in Docs can now generate a personalized first draft from a simple prompt, pulling relevant context from your files and emails.
• Users can refine sections or edit the entire document using prompts to improve clarity, tone, or professionalism.
• New “Match writing style” and “Match doc format” features help users create a document with a preferred style or a reference template.
• Gemini can also populate templates automatically using information from emails, such as travel itineraries with flight and hotel details.
• It can even create new documents from scratch by turning notes or meeting summaries into structured drafts.

Google Sheets

• Gemini in Sheets can now create and organize entire spreadsheets from a single prompt, acting as a collaborative data assistant.
• Users can describe a task, and Gemini will build the sheet structure automatically based on the given task.
• It can expand existing spreadsheets by adding tables, dashboards, and other structured elements.
• The new “Fill with Gemini” option can generate text, categorize data, summarize information, or pull relevant details from Google Search.
• This allows users to automatically populate large tables with structured information from the web or their own files.

Google Slides

• Gemini in Slides acts as a design collaborator that generates layouts, diagrams, and slides from prompts or sketches.
• Users can create new slides that automatically match the theme of an existing presentation.
• Gemini can also edit slides through natural language prompts, such as adjusting colors or simplifying the layout.
• The tool can pull context from files, emails, and the web to populate slides with relevant information.
• Google is also working on the ability to generate an entire presentation deck from a single prompt.

Google Drive

• Google Drive now includes an “Ask Gemini” experience that helps users analyze and understand information across their files.
• Search results can include an AI-generated overview summarizing key information from documents with citations.
• Users can ask complex questions across files, emails, calendars, and the web to get contextual answers.
• Gemini can analyze multiple documents together to extract relevant information without opening each file individually.

The above new Gemini features in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are now rolling out in beta to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in the English language globally. The new Gemini features in Google Drive will be made available in the US alone initially.