Google has unveiled Googlebook, a new line of AI-powered laptops

Google on Tuesday unveiled the Googlebook, its new line of notebooks built on Gemini, Google’s leading family of artificial intelligence models. The tech giant is working with partners like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo to produce the first Google Books in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The company says the Googlebook, scheduled to launch this fall, is the first laptop designed from the ground up around Gemini to provide personalized, proactive assistance.

Googlebooks will ship with “Magic Pointer,” a new AI-powered pointer with Gemini built-in. Instead of just pointing and clicking, moving your cursor will bring up quick, contextual suggestions based on what’s on your screen. For example, if you indicate a date in an email, you can quickly set up a meeting. Or, if you select two images, such as your living room and your new sofa, you can visualize them together.

“We thought we could use Gemini Intelligence and make the cursor really smart and intelligent,” Alexander Kocher, senior director of Android tablets and laptops, said at a briefing with reporters. “As it vibrates and moves on the screen, it will tell you what you can interact with, and give you context on what actions you can do… It really embodies how we think about AI features throughout Googlebooks. It’s built into your face, but it’s not in your face.”

The new laptops will also be compatible with Android phones, allowing people to use apps from their phones directly through their Googlebook. For example, if you’re using your laptop and remember that you need to complete your daily Duolingo lesson but don’t want to access your phone, you can access the app directly on your laptop instead.

Additionally, users will be able to easily access files from their phones directly through Googlebook’s file browser, allowing them to view, search or list them directly on their laptop.

Users will also be able to use Google’s new “Create Widget” feature on Googlebook to create custom widgets by prompting Gemini. Gemini can also pull information from the web and connect to Google apps like Gmail and Calendar to create one personalized dashboard. For example, if you’re planning a family reunion in Berlin, it can collect your flight and hotel details, surface restaurant reservations, and even add a countdown.

The bigger story here may be what replaces Googlebook. The Googlebook unveiling comes 15 years after Google introduced the Chromebook – the affordable, browser-based laptop that has become a staple in schools and workplaces around the world. The new Googlebooks will essentially replace Chromebooks, though the company won’t say so outright. A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email that the company plans to continue supporting existing Chromebook users, with the devices receiving updates through existing support commitments. The company added that many Chromebooks will also be eligible to move to the new experience but did not share details about what that will look like.

Not only is Google refreshing its laptop lineup, it’s beginning a long transition away from ChromeOS, the platform on which it built its laptop presence, and toward a new Android-based operating system with AI built into the foundation. With the biggest names in PC already signed on, this is as much a gaming platform as it is a hardware platform – and a direct answer to Microsoft, which has been developing its own original Copilot+ PCs since 2024.