Google this week opened a new chapter for its Gemini AI: Deep Research can now draw directly from a user’s Gmail, Google Drive (Docs, Slides, Sheets and PDFs) and Google Chat to build research reports and analyses.
What’s new and how to get it
The company says the integration — described in its announcement as “one of our most-requested features” — is available to all Gemini users on desktop today, with a mobile rollout arriving in the coming days. To use it, select “Deep Research” from the Tools menu in Gemini and choose which Workspace sources you want the system to consult.
Supported sources include:
- Gmail message threads
- Google Drive files: Docs, Slides, Sheets and PDFs
- Google Chat logs
- Limit access to specific accounts or folders rather than granting blanket permission.
- Use organizational policies and admin controls to enforce data governance and audit who enables the feature.
- Avoid including highly sensitive personal data (health, legal, or financial) in files you allow the assistant to read.
- Review and verify AI-generated summaries against source documents before sharing externally.
Once enabled, Deep Research will combine those private materials with web searches and other sources to produce multi-step research plans, full reports and summaries that can be exported to Google Docs.
(Details in Google’s post: Google's announcement.)
Why Google says it matters
Gemini Deep Research is designed to move beyond single-answer chat responses toward agentic, multi-step reporting. Google pitches several workplace scenarios: turning a team’s brainstorming docs, related email threads and project plans into a market analysis; building a competitor report that cross-references public data with private strategy documents and spreadsheets; or summarizing quarterly Slide decks and attached PDFs into key takeaways.
For professionals and teams, the capability promises faster synthesis of scattered materials and fewer manual steps to combine email context, internal documents and web research into a single deliverable.
How it compares to other AI assistants
The move arrives months after rival AIs showed similar integrations. Microsoft demonstrated Connectors for Copilot that let it ingest Gmail, Google Calendar and other services for Windows testers, and OpenAI has explored app connections on its platform. With Deep Research’s Workspace hooks, Google is positioning Gemini as a native option for organizations already embedded in Google Workspace.
Functionally, the services overlap: they all allow AI assistants to access private inboxes and files to provide context-aware outputs. Differences will come down to enterprise controls, the depth of integration, and which platform users prefer for security and administration.
Privacy, security and workplace policy questions
Allowing an AI to read private email threads and internal documents raises obvious privacy and compliance concerns. Google says users explicitly select which sources Gemini can access, and the feature will be subject to Workspace admin controls and policies for enterprise accounts. But critics and some early users warn that convenience can outpace caution.
Reactions so far have fallen into two broad camps: productivity advocates who welcome fewer manual steps when preparing reports, and privacy-minded observers who call for tighter safeguards and clearer user controls. Some journalists who tried the integration described it as powerful and, at times, unnerving — noting how quickly an assistant could synthesize personal or sensitive data into polished outputs.
Tips for using Deep Research safely
If you plan to enable the feature, consider these practical steps:
What this means for businesses and users
For teams entrenched in Google Workspace, Deep Research could speed up routine analysis and reduce the friction of assembling research from disparate sources. For IT and compliance leaders, it will prompt updated policies around AI data access, logging and approvals.
Adoption may be quickest where the productivity gains are clearest — marketing briefs, product competitive analyses, financial summaries — and slower where legal or regulatory constraints make any automated reading of communications risky.
Bottom line
Gemini’s new ability to consult Gmail, Drive and Chat puts Google squarely in the mainstream race to make AI assistants operate on both public web data and private workplace context. The feature is a clear productivity play for Workspace customers, but it also raises the familiar set of privacy and governance questions that accompany deeper AI integrations. Organizations that weigh the benefits against the risks and apply tight controls will be best positioned to use the capability safely.