Google brings Gemini AI assistant to Workspace business plans

Google’s Gemini chatbot app will soon be available at no additional cost to customers with Workspace business subscriptions, Google announced Tuesday. The change should put Gemini in the hands of many more people  — there are 10 million paid Workspace customers, Google said last year.

The Gemini generative AI (genAI) assistant can be accessed in two ways within Workspace: as an AI assistant embedded into Workspace apps such as Docs, Sheets, and Meet; and as a standalone chatbot interface available at gemini.google.com. 

Until now, access to Gemini required a subscription with an additional monthly fee over Workspace subscriptions: $20 per user each month for Gemini Business and $30 per user each month for Gemini Enterprise. (Google also has an “AI Meetings and Messages” add-on Workspace that provides access to Gemini features, mostly in the Meet video conferencing app.)

Beginning in the fourth quarter, Workspace customers on Business, Enterprise and Frontline plans will gain access to the standalone natural language chatbot interface without an added subscription. (The ability to use Gemini directly in the Workspace apps still requires a Gemini for Workspace add-on subscription.)

The standalone Gemini app lets users interact with the AI assistant — asking questions about conversations and documents held in Workspace apps, for instance — without compromising company data. Unlike the consumer version, user prompts to Gemini won’t be used to train Google’s AI models or be reviewed by Google staff, according to Google’s help site.

Workspace admins will soon be able to control whether Gemini stores user prompts and responses, and for how long, Google said. 

At Google’s Gemini at Work event, the company unveiled a new security advisor for Workspace Business customers. It provides admins with recommendations around data security management, such as warnings about Drive files that are shared externally, suspicious sign-in attempts, and more. 

Google Workspace’s new security advisor can provide IT admins with recommendations about data security management.
Google

“Think of it as your personal security expert that can offer business-tailored insights, actionable guidance, and additional threat prevention and data protection controls,”  Aparna Pappu, vice president and general manager for Google Workspace, said in a blog post. 

The security advisor is coming to all Workspace Business plans over the next few weeks, Google said.  The company also announced that Gemini for Workspace is now certified for security and privacy standards SOC1/2/3, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701.

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