Google is launching an optional AI-powered search feature update for Gmail.
TakeAway Points:
- Google is introducing an optional AI-powered upgrade for Gmail’s search function.
- Meta is now delivering its AI chatbot to the continent.
Google improves Gmail search
Google searches will no longer just return results in chronological order based solely on the keywords you’re searching for, but will instead also take into account other criteria, including “recency, most-clicked emails and frequent contacts,” according to a post shared to Google’s The Keyword blog today. “With this update, the emails you’re looking for are far more likely to be at the top of your search results — saving you valuable time and helping you find important information more easily.”
The new “most relevant” search results feature is now being rolled out to users around the world with personal Google accounts, and will be available when accessing Gmail through a web browser or via Google’s Android and iOS Gmail apps. However, according to Google, the feature won’t replace Gmail’s previous approach to searching emails. Instead, you’ll be able to toggle between chronological keyword results and the new “most relevant” option.
Meta AI comes to Europe
Meta is bringing its AI chatbot to Europe almost one year after pausing its launch in the region. Starting this week, Meta AI will roll out across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories — but it will be limited to text-based chat features for now.
Meta AI launched in the US in 2023. While the company intended to bring the assistant to Europe, Meta had to pause the rollout in the region after Ireland’s privacy watchdog asked it to delay training on content posted by Facebook and Instagram users. It also halted the launch of its multimodal Llama AI model in the European Union due to regulatory concerns.
According to Meta, its AI assistant will only function as a chatbot for users in Europe, helping to brainstorm ideas, plan a trip, or answer specific questions using information from the web. European users will also be able to use Meta AI to surface certain kinds of content on their Instagram feed. However, they can’t use the tool to do things like generate or edit images, as well as ask questions about a photo. The model isn’t trained on EU user data, either.
Regulatory challenges
“This launch follows almost a year of intensive engagement with various European regulators and for now, we are only offering a text-only model in the region which wasn’t trained on first-party data from users in the EU,” Meta spokesperson Ellie Heatrick said, “We will continue to work collaboratively with regulators so that people in Europe have access to and are properly served by Meta’s AI innovations that are already available to the rest of the world.”
Last November, Meta started bringing some of its AI features to its Ray-Bans smart glasses in the EU, but the glasses currently don’t support multimodal features that let users ask Meta AI about what they can see. It doesn’t seem like Meta is giving up on plans to bring more features to the European version of Meta AI, as the company says it will work to “find parity with the US and expand our offering over time.”
