Google Workspace Changes

Whisk is being discontinued and its best capabilities are moving to Flow, Google's unified platform for AI-powered image and video creation, by April 30, 2026.

On April 30, 2026, Whisk will be discontinued, and its key features will be integrated into Flow, Google's unified platform for AI-powered image and video creation. Users with active Whisk accounts will receive an email and in-product notifications guiding them to migrate their content to Flow or download it, as all remaining media in Whisk libraries after this date will be permanently deleted. Existing AI credits are automatically available in Flow. Users in regions where Flow is not yet supported will lose access to Whisk without a migration path and should download their content before the deadline.

Gemini conversation history is coming to the side panel in Google Workspace apps, enabling users to resume conversations across sessions.

This update introduces conversation history to the Gemini side panel in Google Workspace applications, allowing users to continue their interactions with Gemini across different sessions. This history is app-specific, meaning conversations initiated in one Workspace app will not appear in another, and remains private to the individual user. Additionally, administrators will gain controls to manage conversation data, including manual deletion options for users and automated retention policies. This feature will roll out to Gemini Alpha and Workspace Labs program participants starting March 3, 2026, followed by a broader rollout to all other Workspace users no sooner than March 17, 2026.

New Gemini feature usage and threshold reports available in the Admin console

Google is introducing new adoption and usage metrics within the Gemini reports in the Admin console. These reports provide administrators with comprehensive visibility into AI feature usage and associated thresholds, enabling better management of Workspace subscriptions and Gemini adoption. The data includes usage by features, applications, and active users, helping admins understand user engagement, make informed decisions on AI enablement, adoption, and productivity, and plan for potential subscription upgrades when users approach their maximum AI usage thresholds.

Higher access to automations and workflows in Workspace Studio.

Workspace Studio is rolling out to allow users with higher access to execute more automations, ranging from ad-hoc tasks like labeling emails to always-on workflows that deliver pre-meeting briefs and automatically create follow-up tasks.

Introduction of the AI Expanded Access add-on for higher usage limits of advanced AI features.

Google is introducing the AI Expanded Access add-on for Business and Enterprise plans, providing a middle tier between standard access and AI Ultra Access. This add-on unlocks higher usage limits for advanced AI capabilities, including image generation with Nano Banana Pro, video generation with Veo 3.1, deep reasoning in Gemini 3 Pro, and enhanced source library processing in NotebookLM.

Select Gemini in Workspace capabilities are now available to Education Plus and Teaching & Learning customers, including Gemini in Docs, Slides, Forms, and Vids.

Generative AI capabilities in Google Workspace for Education, specifically Gemini in Docs (Help Me Write, side panel), Gemini in Slides (original images and slides), Gemini in Forms (form creation, AI summaries), and Gemini in Vids (video creation from text prompts or slides), are now available to users 18 and older with a Google Workspace for Education Plus or Teaching and Learning add-on license at no additional cost. These features were already available to other Workspace customers. In the coming months, Gemini in Sheets features and more granular admin controls will also be made available.

Gemini capabilities in Docs, Slides, Forms, and Vids are now available to Education Plus and Teaching & Learning customers.

Google is expanding generative AI capabilities to educators and students (18+) with Google Workspace for Education Plus or Teaching and Learning add-on licenses. This update brings 'Help Me Write' and side panel features to Docs, original image and slide creation to Slides, AI-powered form creation and response summaries to Forms, and text-to-video creation in Vids.

Improved meeting time suggestions using Gemini in Google Calendar

Users can now get suggested meeting times directly within Google Calendar, powered by Gemini. When creating an event, clicking 'Suggested times' will allow Gemini to analyze attendee availability, working hours, and conflicts to recommend the most suitable time slot. Additionally, for meeting organizers, if multiple attendees decline an invite, a banner will appear with an available time for everyone, enabling quick rescheduling.

SecOps data connector is now available for Google Workspace for Education Plus and Standard.

Google is expanding the availability of the SecOps data connector to customers using Google Workspace for Education Plus and Education Standard. This feature allows organizations to seamlessly forward activity logs from Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and other Workspace services into the Google SecOps platform to enhance threat detection, streamline incident response, and maintain compliance archives.

Educators can now generate and share podcast-style audio lessons in Google Classroom using Gemini.

Starting today, educators can generate and share audio lessons in Google Classroom to help students engage more deeply with instructional content and support various learning modalities. Educators can customize the target grade, topic, learning objectives, and even the style of the audio discussion, such as the number of speakers and whether it's an interview or conversational style. This feature builds upon the previous availability of Gemini in Classroom for creating content and resources.

New admin control to disable Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in Google Workspace iOS apps.

Google Workspace is introducing a new administrative setting in the Google Admin console that allows administrators to disable Apple Intelligence Writing Tools (which include proofreading, rewriting, and summarizing text) within participating iOS and iPadOS apps, including Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat. This control is intended to enhance security and mitigate risks by ensuring sensitive data is handled according to organization policies and data loss prevention (DLP) standards on managed devices.

New admin control to manage Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in Google Workspace iOS apps.

Google is launching a new administrative control for admins to disable Apple Intelligence Writing Tools within Google Workspace apps on iOS devices (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat). This feature, part of Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.1+, allows users to proofread, rewrite, or summarize text. The new setting in the Google Admin console, "Allow Writing Tools for work data," will be on by default. Disabling it prevents users from accessing these tools, enhancing data protection and mitigating conflicts with DLP policies.

Expanded Workspace audit logging datasets and in-depth filtering are now available via Admin SDK (Reports API).

To support more granular incident investigations, Google is expanding the Workspace audit logging datasets available on the Admin SDK (Reports API) to include additional datasets such as Admin data action logs, Contacts logs, Assignments logs, Directory Sync logs, Profile logs, Graduation logs, LDAP logs, Meet hardware logs, Takeout logs, Tasks logs, Cloud search logs, Access evaluation logs, and Data migration logs. Additionally, the Reports API now supports in-depth filtering on resource details, allowing users to filter by labels and resources from their audit logs for fetching more granular information. These granular audit logs are crucial for organizations to investigate cybersecurity incidents and understand their data usage, with these changes significantly expanding the depth of analysis possible.

Introducing Google Workspace Studio: a platform to create, manage, and share AI agents to automate work in Workspace with no coding required.

Google Workspace Studio enables users to create, manage, and share AI agents for automating work in Workspace. These agents can handle complex workflows, adapt to new information, and are deeply integrated with Workspace apps like Gmail, Drive, and Sheets for contextual understanding. Users can build custom agents using natural language, connect them to third-party apps, extend capabilities with webhooks and Apps Script, and share them across their organization using templates.

Gemini in Google Classroom is expanding to students (18+) in higher education, providing learning tools from Gemini for Education to help them study and learn.

Gemini in Google Classroom, which was previously launched to assist educators, is now extending its capabilities to students aged 18 and older in higher education. This expansion allows students to access a suite of learning tools available through Gemini for Education, a specialized, no-cost version of the Gemini app designed for educational institutions. Students will be able to leverage features such as learning about complex topics, taking personalized practice quizzes, creating custom digital flashcards, and generating study guides from their notes and class materials. These features are accessible from a central location within Google Classroom, aiming to enhance the learning experience and provide comprehensive study support.