Your Chromebook is getting a major AI upgrade for free

Google will soon push a raft of updates to Chromebook Plus and standard Chromebook laptops that'll add new AI features and more.

Rolling out through October, the new features include improvements to video call quality, live translation, a recorder app that uses AI to transcribe conversations in real time, and Help Me Read, which will summarise large documents so you can get to relevant information more quickly.

These are coming to Chromebook Plus models. Those with a standard Chromebook will get Chat with Gemini, which was previously introduced to Chromebook Plus.

This enables all Chromebook users to use Gemini's generative AI assistant from the shelf / taskbar at the bottom of the screen, rather than having to open a browser.

Welcome Recap is also being added. This gives you a quick visual overview of where you left off on any Google-connected device, including your Android prone or even iPhone.

Focus will be available on standard Chromebooks soon, too. This allows you to set a time period in which you don't want to be disturbed, whether you're taking a break from work or concentrating on a specific task. And, you'll also be able to pin files to your homescreen at last, by attaching them to the shelf.

Of course, considering Chromebook Plus laptops have higher spec, the more complex additions will be exclusive to those models – especially if the AI feature runs from the device itself.

That's perhaps why Help Me Read will launch on those specifically. It's a neat new feature considering it works across PDFs, other documents and websites. You can even ask further questions to delve into more into the text. And Google has revealed that more powerful functionality is set to be added next year, with the system clarifying specific sentences or paragraphs you select.

We're particularly keen to test Live Translate, which we assume will work similarly to the feature on Android. It will be able to translate "over 100 languages" and works across third-party apps too, such as Zoom. Even YouTube videos can be translated in real-time.

New Chromebooks and Chromebook Plus models will come with the updated features on release, while supported existing devices will receive the respective tools across October.