Google has just announced something that’s new and exciting — and alarming, all at the same time. It’s the latest upgrade to Gmail and related apps, including Calendar and Drive. It’s designed “to help you stay organized and get things done.” But to get this, you need to give Google access to all you data. You must decide carefully.
“CC is our new experimental AI productivity agent from Google Labs,” Google posted Tuesday. It’s unsurprisingly built with Gemini. “When you sign up, it connects your Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive and the wider web to gain an understanding of your day, delivering a ‘Your Day Ahead’ briefing to your inbox every morning.”
You get the point. This daily briefing “synthesizes your schedule, key tasks and updates into one clear summary, so you know what needs to be done next, whether it’s paying a bill or preparing for an appointment.” Building on what Gemini is already doing for millions of users, CC can also “prepare email drafts and calendar links.” You can even message CC directly by “replying or emailing directly with custom requests.”
As with other AI upgrades, it will start slowly before picking up pace. “CC is an early Labs experiment, launching in early access today to Google consumer account users 18+ in the U.S. and Canada, starting with Google AI Ultra and paid subscribers.”
There’s a waitlist to join here. Google says “CC is a standalone experimental service provided by Google Labs,” and that “your data in CC, including any feedback you choose to provide, is processed per the Google Privacy Policy. You should read it. There is plenty of user data harvesting and analysis taking place under the covers.
You should read it, but most won’t.
That’s the core warning here. This is the latest shiny AI tool to make an appearance. It comes the same week as warnings about unfixable prompt injection vulnerabilities. AI will quickly get out of control across your devices and data if you don’t make deliberate decisions about how far is too far. Ask of each new offering: Do I need this? Will I genuinely use this? And what are the privacy and security trade-offs I’m making?
All Gmail users must decide carefully.