Google Workspace update brings new Vids apps and generative AI features

Google on Tuesday launched new artificial intelligence (AI) features for its enterprise-focused, cloud-based suite of productivity and collaboration tools, Google Workspace. The announcements were made during the company’s annual Google Cloud Next event. The main highlight of the launch is the new Google Vids app, an AI-powered video generation tool. New features have also been added to Google Meet, Gmail, Docs, Sheet, and more. Notably, the tech giant also announced new features for its image-generating AI model, Imagen 2.

Aparna Pappu, vice president and general manager of Google Workspace, shared the announcements at a press conference blog post. The biggest addition is Google Vids, which the company pitches as a “video creation app for work.” It’s not a video generation tool, but AI can generate editable storyboards. Users first need to select a style and template, and then it will follow prompts to select stock video, images, and background music to create the video. Users can also add voiceovers by selecting preset sounds in the platform or using their own voices.

Google Meet has also launched an interesting feature. Earlier, the video conferencing platform gained a subtitle translation feature that allowed users to get translated subtitles by manually selecting their preferred language. Meet can now automatically detect and translate subtitles in a user’s preferred language by listening to the language they speak. The tech giant has also added 52 new languages ​​to the translated subtitles, bringing the total number of languages ​​to 69.

In addition to this, Google Sheets also gets a new “Sheets” feature to format and organize data. The company has given the feature a design upgrade to its workflow to make it more intuitive. A new set of templates has been added to accommodate more workspace use cases. Documents users will also get a new “tabs” experience. The search engine maker said it will allow users to organize related information in a single document. People can also add a full-screen cover image to personalize the document.

Finally, Gmail has also been updated with new artificial intelligence features. The “Write Me on Gmail” mobile feature now comes with audio prompts that users can speak to get an AI-generated email. The company also touted a new polishing feature for Gemini in Gmail, which can take rough notes and convert them into complete email drafts without any prompting. These features will be available to Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Business, and Google One AI Premium subscribers.

All of these features have either already been released or will be rolling out in the coming weeks.