Google’s Cloud Next 2026 conference is currently ongoing in Las Vegas, and it has already given us a lot to talk about on its first day.
The event, which is focusing on AI-driven cloud innovations, also highlighted big improvements coming to Google Workspace apps, including Google Meet, Google Drive, Google Sheets, and more!
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As part of the rollout, Google Meet is getting access to the most interesting feature.
As pointed out by the folks over at 9to5Google, Google Meet’s ‘Take Notes for me’ feature is going IRL.
For reference, the tool has been available within online Google Meet meetings since 2024. Now, users will be able to trigger the same tool during in-person meetings. The feature can be triggered from the Meet mobile app or the web.
The AI will then listen to your conversation, transcribe, and give you detailed meeting notes on Google Docs.
Elsewhere, Google Drive is adding a new ‘Projects’ feature, which acts as a central location for your “files and emails.” The central location can be accessed by Gemini and by other people.
It’s located in the side panel under “Home,” and it allows you to curate a specific set of sources to talk to Gemini about. Essentially, instead of asking Gemini to search your entire Drive, this can narrow the scope.
Finally, Google Sheets is moving away from standard cells and giving you more ways to create an interactive dashboard to display your data.
Smart Canvas, which has previously been available in Google Docs, is now expanding to Google Sheets. Powered by Gemini, it should make it easy for data to be converted into interactive dashboards, heat maps, Kanban boards, gallery views, calendars, and more.
These changes are rolling out now and should start landing for users in the coming days.
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