Google turns Gemini into bundles
Google appears to be packaging Gemini capabilities into tiered subscriptions—AI Plus, Pro and Ultra—segmenting access to features rather than releasing a single flagship breakthrough. Paid users are also seeing Gemini Notebooks roll out as a workspace for organizing chats, files and research, tied to NotebookLM. (9to5google.com, punemirror.com)
Google is no longer selling Gemini as one premium add-on. It is sorting the assistant into Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra bundles with different tools, limits and storage. (9to5google.com) The lineup now spans a free tier, a lower-priced Plus plan, Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra, with features such as Gemini in Chrome, Google Search AI Mode, NotebookLM, Flow and developer tools split across the tiers. Google first renamed Google One AI Premium to Google AI Pro and introduced Google AI Ultra at Google Input/Output 2025 in May 2025. (9to5google.com, (9to5google.com) Google AI Pro now includes 5 terabytes of storage and 1,000 monthly artificial intelligence credits, while Google AI Ultra includes 30 terabytes and 12,500 credits. Google’s help pages say Pro also includes family sharing in some cases, while Ultra carries the company’s highest usage limits and first access to some features. (9to5google.com, (support.google.com), (support.google.com) At the same time, Google is adding “notebooks” inside Gemini on the web for paid subscribers. Google said on April 8 that these notebooks can hold chats, files and project material in one place and sync with NotebookLM, its research and source-grounding tool. (blog.google) Google said Plus, Pro and Ultra subscribers on the web would get notebooks “this week,” with wider access coming later. The company’s Gemini updates page describes notebooks as a way to keep track of projects, while outside reports say the rollout began on April 8 and April 9. (blog.google), (blog.google), (digitaltrends.com) The shift puts Google’s artificial intelligence business closer to a software bundle than a single chatbot subscription. Access now depends not just on the model, but on which workspace, browser, inbox, coding and video-generation tools Google attaches to each plan. (9to5google.com, (support.google.com)) That packaging also lets Google meter usage in several ways at once. Free users face daily caps on model access and monthly caps on Deep Research reports, while paid plans raise those limits and add products such as Whisk, Flow, Gemini Code Assist, Gemini Command Line Interface and Project Mariner. (9to5google.com), (blog.google), (support.google.com) Google has been moving Gemini deeper into its existing products for months. Gmail added artificial intelligence overviews and inbox question tools for Pro and Ultra subscribers, and Chrome, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Photos and Google Home features are now part of the subscription matrix. (blog.google), (9to5google.com) Google has not framed the change as a new standalone Gemini launch. The company is turning Gemini into a menu of paid access levels, then using notebooks to give those tiers a place to store ongoing work instead of one-off chats. (blog.google), (9to5google.com)
