Google introduced the January updates for the Gemini app, known as Gemini Drop. The update brings features for personalizing responses, automating tasks in Chrome, creating videos from images, and studying for the SAT.
The idea is for Gemini to do more than answer questions: it can also help you connect information, complete processes, and turn your resources into something useful. What changes for you? It depends on which applications you choose to connect and which tasks you want to delegate.
Gemini connects your Google applications
The Personal Intelligence feature allows Gemini to relate information from your Google applications to offer help that better matches your context. For example, it could suggest vacation ideas or help you organize a project plan.
The feature is designed to keep you in control. You can decide which applications to connect and manage your personalization settings at any time. This matters because more useful assistance also needs clear limits on which information it can use.
Personalization does not mean handing over all your content to Gemini. You choose which applications to connect, and you can change those decisions whenever you want.
Gemini in Chrome automates tasks
Gemini in Chrome adds auto browse, a feature that can carry out certain tasks in the browser based on an instruction. Examples mentioned by Google include booking an appointment and organizing a party.
Instead of simply explaining how to do something, Gemini can move the process forward for you. Even so, the company emphasizes that the user remains in control—an especially important point when a task involves decisions, purchases, or personal data.
Imagine that you need to coordinate a celebration. You could ask Gemini to research options, compare information, and help organize the next steps while you supervise what happens. The goal of automation is to reduce repetitive work, not take away your final decision.
Veo 3.1 turns images into videos
The app also lets you create expressive videos from reference images with Veo 3.1, Google's video generation model.
According to the company, images can be transformed into dynamic scenes with richer dialogue and more developed storytelling. This opens up possibilities for telling stories, animating visual concepts, or bringing a photograph to life.
The practical difference is moving from a static image to a piece with action and context. For creators, entrepreneurs, or people preparing content for social media, it can become a more direct way to experiment with audiovisual ideas.
SAT preparation inside Gemini
Students preparing for the SAT can now practice with full-length exams inside Gemini. The tool provides feedback on performance and recommendations to identify which areas deserve more study.
Rather than giving isolated answers, this type of practice can help you recognize patterns: which topics lead to the most mistakes, how you manage your time, and which concepts need more review.
Its usefulness will depend on how you use it. A good strategy would be to take a test, review the feedback, and turn the weaknesses you identify into a concrete study plan.
Chrome improves shopping research
Chrome will also receive more useful shopping features. The experience will let you research products and find complementary items based on the tabs you have open.
For example, if you are looking at a device, Gemini could help you explore accessories or related products without making you start the search from scratch. These improvements build on recent advances in the shopping features available in the Gemini app.
The benefit is bringing together context from several pages and turning it into a more organized search. Even so, comparing prices, reviewing terms, and confirming a seller's reputation remain the user's responsibility.
An update focused on helping you do more
The January updates show a clear direction for Gemini: moving from being a chatbot that answers questions to becoming an assistant capable of working with your context, carrying out tasks, and producing content.
The key will be balancing convenience and control. The more functions AI can perform, the more important it becomes for you to understand what information it uses, which actions it can complete, and when you need to review the result before moving forward.
Google brings these and other updates together in the Gemini Drops Hub, its space for regular updates to the app.
Original source
https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-drop-january-2026