Now you can talk to your Gmail inbox, as seen at Google IO 2026

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Google isn’t done putting AI into your box. Tuesday at their IO 2026 developer conferenceThe tech giant has announced its expansion “AI Inbox” functionality for Gmailwhich is increasing the discussion of AI. This means you can query Gmail for items in your inbox instead of typing in keywords.

The company says the Gemini AI feature, called Gmail Live, will help you find the information posted in your inbox.

Maybe you want information about your flight, your doctor’s appointment, the number of an Airbnb rental, or something about an event at your child’s school, for example.

In the past, you had to type a keyword into the search box (or maybe type in someone’s email address or domain) to narrow down your search. This does not make emails easy to find, however, especially if the keyword is found in multiple messages.

“Gmail Live can answer clear questions, answer follow-up questions, and set if you want to interrupt them,” Devanshi Bhandari, Gmail’s product manager, explained at Google’s annual conference, Google I/O, where the feature was introduced to the public.

It is another way that Google is trying to show how its AI technology can lead to a real change in the products used by millions of consumers, at a time when many outside the technology industry are questioning the importance of AI, while new data centers are being built behind them, driving their money.

The ability to point to something as simple as making it easier to find lost content in your email inbox – something that almost everyone has experienced at some point – could be a useful and good use of AI…or, Google hopes.

Bhandari demonstrated Gmail Live to reporters, asking the tool a series of questions about things in the inbox, such as a child’s art project and their class trip, including hotel and airline information for a trip to Detroit. Similar to using a standalone AI chatbot like Gemini or ChatGPT, Gmail users can ask these questions out loud in natural language, and the chatbot responds.

In the demo, Gmail Live also understood the context between things like “field trip” and “journey” and was able to jump from one topic to another, Bhandari said. In addition, AI can pull information from emails, such as a hotel room number, or identify people you’re interviewing, even if they’re not well-named.

A similar voice matching technology is also coming to its to-do list, Google Keep, the company said.

In particular, Gmail Live is not a replacement for Gmail’s search function – it’s just an alternative.

Google may have learned that not everyone is ready to do AI-only after “upgrading” Google Photos with AI-powered search a great recovery. Google Photos later changed the feature, making the use of AI voluntary after many complaints.

Gmail is also getting new features, including ready-to-send notes, instant access to files, and the ability to manage actions by logging in.

Also, a AI Inbox experiencelaunched earlier this year, will expand beyond Google AI Ultra subscribers to Google AI Pro and Plus subscribers. This allows you to get an overview of the services and products you can get in your inbox, all on one page.

Gmail Live features with voice, however, will be released later this summer and will initially be limited Google AI Ultra subscribers.