Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook — here's what actually changed

Google's popular research and document tool NotebookLM is now called Gemini Notebook, effective 16 July 2026. The rename is more than cosmetic — it brings the standalone app deeper into Google's Gemini ecosystem while adding a genuinely useful new capability. If you've been using it to organize research or generate audio summaries, the core experience stays the same; the bigger changes are what's coming next.

The rebrand

The "LM" in NotebookLM always stood for Language Model, an acronym that never quite landed with general users. Gemini Notebook drops the jargon and picks up the blue-and-purple Gemini gradient logo to match Google's broader AI lineup. The product remains a separate app — it hasn't been folded into the main Gemini chatbot — but notebooks will now sync across the Gemini app and, soon, into Google Search's AI Mode. That last point means you'll be able to use your own research notes as context when running AI-assisted searches, per 9to5Google.

The new feature

The headline addition is code execution. Gemini Notebook can now write and run code against the data in your notebooks, inside a secure cloud environment, enabling native data analysis without leaving the app. Think pivot tables or statistical summaries drawn directly from your uploaded documents. The catch: this is rolling out to Google AI Ultra and Workspace business customers first, with Pro tier access expected in the coming weeks, reports TechCrunch.

The scale of the product is notable. Google says Gemini Notebook now has 30 million users and is in use at more than 600,000 organizations — a figure that makes it one of the more widely adopted AI productivity tools outside of ChatGPT.

Three surfaces, some confusion

The rebrand does introduce a navigational puzzle. The Gemini app has a "Notebooks" section. There's a standalone Gemini Notebook app. And Google Search's AI Mode is getting notebook integration too. Three overlapping surfaces with similar names could frustrate new users trying to figure out where their notes actually live. For now, Forbes notes that educators in particular are watching the code execution feature carefully — useful for data-heavy coursework, but it raises questions about whether it shortcuts the analytical thinking it's meant to support.

Gemini Notebook is available globally at gemini.google.com, free tier included. Code execution for Pro users is coming soon.