Google Personal Intelligence turns Gemini into an AI assistant that actually knows you 🤖

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Imagine a digital assistant that doesn’t just answer your questions, but actually understands your context, habits, and preferences. Google just crossed that threshold with Personal Intelligence, a new feature that transforms Gemini into a genuinely personalized digital companion. Announced on January 14, 2026, this innovation marks a turning point in the conversational AI user experience.

An assistant that intelligently digs through your digital life 🔍

© Google

What’s impressive is Gemini 3’s cross-source reasoning capability. It doesn’t just search for keywords; it connects the dots between different sources to generate insights you might never have discovered on your own.

Your data, your choices 🔒

Google has placed privacy at the heart of Personal Intelligence. The feature is disabled by default. You decide whether to activate it, and more importantly, which apps to connect. You can modify these settings anytime or even disable personalization for a specific conversation through « temporary chats. »

© Google

Crucial point: Google claims it doesn’t train its AI models directly on your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library. Instead, the company uses limited information—your specific queries and the model’s responses—after filtering or masking sensitive personal data. In other words, Gemini learns to locate your license plate number when you ask for it, but doesn’t memorize the number itself.

Gemini also indicates the sources used in its responses, allowing you to verify the information. And the assistant avoids making proactive assumptions about sensitive data like your health, unless you explicitly ask about those topics.

Still limited availability 🌍

For now, Personal Intelligence is rolling out in beta exclusively in the United States, and only for Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers. The feature works on web, Android, and iOS, with all available Gemini models.

Google plans to gradually expand access to other countries and eventually to free accounts. The feature should also soon integrate with Google Search’s AI Mode. Note: Personal Intelligence isn’t available for Google Workspace business, educational, or enterprise accounts.

The acknowledged limitations of personalized AI ⚠️

Google doesn’t hide that Personal Intelligence can sometimes make mistakes. The system can generate « inaccurate responses » or engage in « over-personalization » by establishing connections between unrelated topics. For example, if Gemini sees hundreds of photos of you at a golf course, it might assume you love golf. But maybe you don’t love golf—you just love your son, and that’s why you’re there.

© Google

The assistant also struggles with temporal and relational nuances, particularly around life changes like divorces or evolving interests. Fortunately, you can correct Gemini anytime, and the assistant will adjust its understanding.

The race for AI personalization heats up 🚀

With Personal Intelligence, Google is throwing down the gauntlet to Apple Intelligence, Apple’s personal AI system that also integrates apps to help with writing, image creation, and context understanding. Ironically, Apple recently chose Google to power certain AI features, including a major Siri upgrade expected later this year.

This announcement fits into a fierce battle between Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, and other players to create the most useful and intelligent AI assistant. The difference? Google is betting on the ecosystem it’s already built over the years with Gmail, Photos, YouTube, and Search—a considerable advantage since, as the company points out, this data « already lives securely at Google » without needing to be sent elsewhere.

The future of digital assistance takes shape 🔮

Personal Intelligence may represent the future of conversational AI: assistants that no longer just know the world, but know you. Assistants capable of anticipating your needs without you having to explain everything each time.

It remains to be seen whether users will be ready to take this step. Beyond the technical promises and privacy guarantees, the fundamental question remains: how far are we willing to let AI intrude into our private lives for the sake of convenience? Google seems to have understood the stakes by leaving the choice to users. But the real battle will be fought over trust.

One thing’s certain: with Personal Intelligence, the era of generic assistants is coming to an end. Welcome to the world of AIs that know you—for better, and perhaps also for worse.

What about you—would you be willing to connect your Google apps to Gemini for a more personalized experience? Or do you think AI already knows enough about us? Share your thoughts in the comments!