Google Workspace AI Enhancements: A Roundup for Administrators

Google Workspace continues to integrate advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, offering new tools and controls for organisations. For Google Workspace administrators, understanding these enhancements is crucial for managing your domain effectively and ensuring optimal user experience and data governance. This overview highlights some of the recent AI-driven updates that could impact your organisation.

Managing Apple Intelligence Writing Tools in Google Workspace iOS Apps

A significant update for administrators concerns the ability to manage Apple Intelligence Writing Tools within Google Workspace applications on iOS 18.1 and later devices. This new control allows administrators to disable these external writing aids, providing an additional layer of data protection and risk mitigation for sensitive organisational information. By toggling a setting within the Admin Console, the "Writing Tools" option will no longer appear to users when they are selecting text within Google Workspace apps, ensuring that corporate data remains within your managed environment. This feature is particularly valuable for organisations with stringent data privacy requirements.

Podcast-Style Audio Lessons Generated by Gemini in Google Classroom

For educational institutions utilising Google Workspace for Education, Gemini’s capabilities in Google Classroom have expanded further. Educators can now use Gemini to generate and share audio lessons in a podcast-style format. This development offers a novel way to engage students, supporting various learning styles and making instructional content more accessible. For administrators, this means an increased potential for AI-driven content creation within the Classroom environment, fostering innovation in teaching and learning methods across your domain.

Administrator Controls for Speech Translation in Google Meet

Google Meet is set to bridge language barriers with its Speech Translation feature, which provides near real-time translation during meetings. This powerful AI capability can significantly enhance global collaboration within your organisation. While currently in an alpha phase, a broader beta launch is anticipated for January 27, 2026. Administrators will soon gain control over this feature, allowing them to manage its availability and settings for users. Understanding and configuring this tool will be essential for facilitating seamless multilingual communications for your teams.

Enhanced User Control for "Take Notes for Me" in Google Meet

Another improvement in Google Meet focuses on the "Take notes for me" feature, which summarises meeting discussions using artificial intelligence. Users now have greater control through a new toggle that allows them to decide whether this feature automatically starts when they host a meeting. Previously, hosts had to manually activate it for each meeting. This change empowers users to manage their meeting summarisation preferences more efficiently, while administrators should be aware of this user-facing setting to support their teams effectively."