Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc., during the Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, Calif., on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Searching for an old email containing directions from your boss, your friend’s address or your airline award number is about to get a lot easier, according to Google.
On Friday, the company announced an AI update for Gmail: Over the next 15 days, end users will start seeing “top results” when they search their inboxes, presented above the “all results” section. The new category is powered by Google’s machine learning models, which will analyze the search term, recent emails and “other relevant factors” to determine which messages are considered the best match for the query.
The news is the latest in a series of strategic changes for the email service, including a controversial update to its inactive account policy in May: After a Google Account hasn’t been used for two years, the company can delete the account, including all of its content and data . In February, Google finished rolling out its new Gmail interface for every user, which features a redesign and an emphasis on the company’s other productivity tools.
Latest Gmail update for phones.
The strategic changes are likely in line with Google’s recent cost-cutting measures and CEO Sundar Pichai’s plans to make the company “20% more productive.” During Alphabet’s latest earnings call, executives discussed plans to allocate resources to areas including AI and search, and business chief Philipp Schindler highlighted Search’s “ability to drive search and deliver measurable ROI in an uncertain environment.” .
In a blog post, Google called the feature “highly desired” and wrote that it will be available to all account holders and customers.