You can now create meeting timers in the Google Meet sidebar. Host/Co-hosts can manage the timer if host controls are on. If the host controls are off, anyone in the meeting can manage it. Once the timer is started, it will be visible to all meeting participants. You can also pause or cancel the timer once it starts. 

Timers can be a valuable tool in online meetings for improving focus, managing time effectively, and ensuring equitable participation. By providing a visible, shared sense of time, they help structure the meeting and drive productivity. 

Organizations who have configured private IP Looker Core instances can now enable Connected Sheets for their teams, bringing easier analysis and sharing capabilities to their users. Now, users who were previously restricted from using Connected Sheets due to Private IP controls on their Looker instances will be able to leverage powerful and intuitive spreadsheet capabilities to better understand and analyze their Looker data.

Google Workspace admins can now get better insights into how Chat apps are being used within their organization via enhanced logging and display of log information. Specifically, we are enhancing Chat event logs to add Chat app related events. Using these logs, admins can gain insights such as: Getting started 

• Admins: 
• Logs will be collected by default. Admins can see the logging information: 
• Via BigQuery log export and subsequent queries / data visualizations 
• Via the Reports API 
• Coming soon, the logs will also be available in the Security Investigation Tool (SIT) 
• Use our Help Center to learn more about allowing users to install Chat apps, or using Chat log events. 
• End users: 
• No end user impact. 

Rollout pace 

• This feature is available now. 

Availability 

Audit logs are available via: 

• The Reports API to all Google Workspace customers \
• BigQuery to Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus. 
• (Coming soon) The Security Investigation Tool (SIT) to Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. 

Resources 

• Google Workspace Admin Help: Chat log events 
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Allow users to install Chat apps

Starting today, Gemini in Chrome is available to Google Workspace users with access to the Gemini app. Gemini in Chrome is an AI browsing assistant to help you get things done on Mac, Windows and iOS devices, allowing you to ask Gemini for answers and insights, conduct in-depth two-way conversations with Gemini Live, and more using the context of up to 10 browser tabs along with the Google Workspace app. 
Additional details 

• Your access to Gemini app through Gemini in Chrome includes enterprise-grade data protections and is subject to the Google Workspace Terms of Service or your offline Workspace agreement for business customers, and the Google Workspace for Education Terms of Service for education customers. As a reminder, your content is not reviewed by human reviewers or otherwise used for Generative AI model training outside your domain without permission. Learn more at the Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub. 
• Note: Not all Workspace editions receive access to the Gemini app as a core service. Visit the Help Center for more information. 
• At launch, some of the compliance certifications achieved to date for Google Workspace customers accessing the Gemini app as a core service on web or mobile app do not apply to Gemini in Chrome. Refer to Gemini in Chrome section in Turn the Gemini app on or off for more information. 
• Gemini in Chrome will be blocked for customers who have signed the HIPAA Business Associate Amendment (BAA). 
• Initially, this feature will be available: 
• On Mac, Windows and iOS 
• To users 18+ 
• In English only 
• In the US only 
• Usage reporting: Gemini in Chrome usage will be included as part of Gemini app usage visible in the Admin Console under Generative AI > Gemini Reports and in other admin reporting tools like the Security Investigation Tool. 

Getting started 

• Admins: This feature will be ON by default unless you have already disabled the Gemini app service setting or the Chrome Gemini Setting. It can be turned on/off at the domain, OU, or group level. Refer to Turn the Gemini app on or off or our previous announcement for information on how to turn access on or off, the terms of service and privacy considerations for the feature. 
• End users: When sharing is turned on, the tab the user is viewing is shared with Gemini in Chrome. The user can also select up to 10 tabs to share and reference the Workspace app for additional grounding. Use our Help Center to learn more about Gemini in Chrome and how to use it. 

Rollout pace 

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (greater than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 2, 2025. 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 

• Business Starter, Standard, Plus 
• Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus 
• Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus 
• Frontline Starter, Standard, and Plus 
• Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Essentials Plus 
• Nonprofits 

Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons: 

• Gemini Business - Legacy* 
• Gemini Enterprise - Legacy* 
• Google AI Ultra for Business 
• Google AI Pro for Education 

*As of January 15, 2025, we’re no longer offering the Gemini Business and Gemini Enterprise add-ons for sale. Please refer to this announcement for more details. 

Resources 

• Chrome Enterprise & Education Help: Gemini in Chrome 
• Workspace Updates Blog: Gemini in Chrome will soon be generally available, pre-configure access for end users in advance 
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn the Gemini app on or off 
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Review Gemini usage in your organization 
• Chrome Enterprise: GeminiSettings 
• Google Workspace Admin Help: Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub

This capability, requiring minimal efforts for both IT teams and end users, abstracts away the traditional IT complexity and substandard user experiences of existing solutions, while preserving enhanced data sovereignty, privacy, and security controls. 

Users can now send expressive stickers in their conversations in Google Chat on the web. Stickers can provide users with more options to express themselves in their Chat conversations, alongside emojis, GIFs, and other media-based messages. Stickers are available for Chat users on the web via Google Chat stand-alone or in the Chat tab of Gmail. 

Access Transparency, Access Management, and Access Approvals now cover Gemini App data. These features provide admins full transparency into when Gemini App data is viewed for support purposes, control over which Google support staff can view this data, and control over when this data can be viewed by Google for support purposes. 

The addition of Gemini App data to Access Transparency, Access Management, and Access Approvals expands on Google’s data commitments on customer data ownership, security, and privacy. 

These controls have been extended to cover Gemini App data in addition to Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Sites, Chat, meet, and Gemini in Workspace data. 

You can now create custom background images with Gemini from your Android or iOS device. Meeting backgrounds can help obscure your surroundings during a meeting or they can enhance the meeting itself, and now you can take advantage of this feature whether you’re joining a meeting from Google Meet on the web or on mobile devices. 

We're making it quicker and easier to find and use your favorite apps and actions in Google Chat with a redesigned integrations menu that lets you search for apps and execute commands with fewer clicks. The menu is accessible through the "+" button next to the compose bar or by typing "/". For example, you can now simply type "/poll" to start a Poll using the Poll app, or press the “+” button and see options to create a calendar invite, upload a Drive file, send a Meet link, or more. 

Taking notes during meetings is crucial for tracking action items and key decisions, but it can be a tedious task. With our Gemini-powered “Take notes for me”, you can stay fully engaged in the conversation while ensuring nothing gets missed. 

We’re making it even easier to have Gemini take notes for you. Event organizers can now enable Take notes for me when scheduling the event or preparing their meeting in Calendar. 

This update gives you peace of mind, ensuring that even for your most critical meetings, you'll have a complete set of notes automatically generated and shared, without needing to think about it once the meeting begins. 

For more than seven years, Pexip has been a trusted interoperability partner for Google Meet, ensuring that participants can use their legacy meeting room systems to join Google Meet calls. We are excited to expand our relationship with Pexip Connect for Google Meet hardware – which will enable Google Meet hardware to seamlessly join Microsoft Teams from both Android and ChromeOS hardware. 

We’re adding two new features to help organizations minimize the impact of ransomware attacks on personal computers. Specifically, we are adding these features in beta: 

In order to improve the experience of admins managing Google Meet’s Enterprise Content Delivery Network (Meet eCDN) rules, we’re updating how the “Custom Rules” peering policy works in some cases, and how assigned networks are surfaced in the MQT eCDN network table. Understanding these changes will allow customers to make full use of those improvements. 

Please note you will only see this change if you have defined overlapping IP ranges. For example, if you have defined a large range that’s allowed but including some smaller ranges that should be blocked within it. If you have non-overlapping ranges only, you won’t be affected by this change. 

Viewers with the “custom rules” peering policy will be matched against a list of IP ranges and their respective peering configuration (allowed or blocked). This is done by checking all listed ranges in order from top to bottom. Previously, any blocking match would supersede an allowing match, even if the allowing match came first. We’re removing the priority for blocking changes to simplify how matches are determined. 

Example for a viewer with private IP address 10.0.0.30: 

Developers can use two new features to create more engaging Chat apps. Specifically, we are adding: 

We have previously launched the ability for users on the web to collaborate with Gemini in Google Drive. Now, we're excited to extend Gemini’s capabilities to users on mobile in the Drive apps for Android and iOS. This integration empowers Drive users of the mobile apps to seamlessly ask questions about their files and folders and receive conversational responses, mirroring the existing functionality available on Drive Web. 

For example, users on mobile can now use Gemini to: 

We’re upgrading Slides and Vids to the latest image editing model, Nano Banana. As recently detailed in this blog post, Nano Banana brings improved quality to image editing to make it easier to bring your ideas to life. 

Additionally, we are launching an option for users to edit images using custom prompts. For example, you could ask Gemini to “Place this product in a New York subway station,” and then add it to your slide or video. 

We’re introducing an owner role in Google Chat spaces in addition to managers and members. By increasing the number of roles, it will be easier to share the tasks associated with managing spaces with the right colleagues. For example, managers will be able to help owners with some space administration tasks, while owners will retain full control over the space. 

Specifically: 

Both owners and managers will be able to control which roles (members, managers, or owners) have which permissions in the space settings, such as who can use the ‘@all’ function, add apps, or turn history on or off.