NotebookLM gets Gemini branding while staying separate
Google says NotebookLM will become Gemini Notebook, with deeper ties to Gemini and Search while remaining its own app.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Google is changing the name of its AI note-taking app NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. Google said Thursday that the product will remain a separate app even as it becomes more closely connected with Gemini and Google Search.
The name change matters for current users because Google is tying the product more directly to its Gemini brand without saying it will fold the app into Gemini. Google described the update as part of a closer integration across its AI assistant and search products.
A product with several names
According to The Verge, the app now known as NotebookLM began as Project Tailwind, which Google first showed in May 2023. The Verge reported that Google made the app more broadly available a few months after that initial reveal.
The product has since carried the NotebookLM name while Google added features meant to help users sort through notes and other material. With the latest change, Google is putting the service under the Gemini name, matching the branding it uses for its flagship AI tools.
Features added over time
The Verge reported that Google has expanded NotebookLM with tools that turn notes into different formats. Those additions have included AI-generated podcast-style summaries, narrated slide presentations and short clips modeled on the format popularized by TikTok.
Those features are aimed at helping users review or understand their notes in formats beyond a standard written summary, according to The Verge’s coverage of the app. Google has framed the product as an AI tool for organizing information and making sense of user-provided material.
Google’s Thursday announcement keeps the app’s future tied to both its existing standalone identity and the broader Gemini system. The company said the renamed Gemini Notebook will connect more deeply with Gemini and Google Search, but did not present the change as the end of a separate app experience.
The rebrand follows Google’s wider use of the Gemini label across its AI products. For NotebookLM users, the immediate change is the name: the service is becoming Gemini Notebook while continuing as its own app, according to Google.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.