Google is finally rolling out its “Ask Gemini” AI assistant to help you make sense of your Google Meet calls, but its rival Zoom is crashing the party with a massive update to its own AI Companion. Unveiled at its Zoomtopia conference, Zoom’s new agentic AI can not only suggest which of your meetings to skip but can even take notes on competitors’ platforms like Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, escalating the AI arms race in workplace collaboration.
Google’s Gemini joins the call
Google’s “Ask Gemini” feature is now starting to roll out to select Google Workspace customers, aiming to solve the problem of joining a meeting late or losing focus. The assistant, which appears in a side panel, can summarize what you missed, highlight key decisions, and even tell you what specific participants have said. It sources its answers from live captions, as well as documents like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides that you have permission to view. The feature is enabled by default but can be turned off by hosts, and Google says that conversation data is not stored after the call ends.
Initially, Ask Gemini is only available on desktop and for meetings held in English, with more languages promised soon. The rollout will begin for Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus customers over the coming weeks. However, Google is adding the standard AI caveat, cautioning that “Gemini in Workspace can make mistakes,” so you might not want to trust it with your job just yet.
Zoom’s AI wants to run your calendar
While Google’s update is a logical next step, Zoom’s AI Companion 3.0 is taking a more aggressive, cross-platform approach. In a direct shot at its competitors, Zoom’s AI will now be able to record, transcribe, and summarize meetings on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. The goal is to become the central AI layer for your work life, regardless of the video platform you’re on.
The most eye-catching new feature is an “agentic AI” tool called “free up my time,” which analyzes your calendar and suggests meetings you could potentially skip or mark as optional. It can also block off focus time to prevent back-to-back scheduling. Zoom is also rolling out photorealistic AI avatars for when you’re not “camera-ready,” a feature that comes with its own deepfake-related security questions. These updates, part of what Zoom calls AI Companion 3.0, are expected to be generally available in November, with the core features included at no extra cost for paid Zoom users.
The rise of the ‘agentic’ assistants
This new wave of features is built around “agentic AI,” a new buzzword for AI systems designed to handle tasks with minimal human oversight. As detailed by CNET, these agents use advanced reasoning and memory of your past actions to complete tasks on your behalf. While companies see this as a way to automate administrative work, it moves AI from a simple summarization tool to an active participant in your workflow. It also marks a significant escalation in the battle for AI dominance, with Zoom positioning its AI not just as a feature within its app but as an overarching service that lives across your entire digital workspace.
