Chromebook Plus AI enhancements include Recorder app, Live Translate, and more

Today’s a big day for Chromebooks at Google, with the company sharing both Samsung’s new super-thin Galaxy Chromebook Plus and Lenovo’s latest budget-friendly Chromebook Duet. That news isn’t just landing on the hardware front, though, and Google’s also got a whole mess of announcements to make about features landing across the Chromebook lineup — and wouldn’t you guess it, but there’s a heaping load of AI involved.

For starters, Google tells us, you can now chat with Gemini right from the shelf of any Chromebook model, Plus or not. You’ll also find a new Welcome Recap screen greeting you when you first open up your laptop, reminding you of what you were working on earlier and giving you some tips for what to start with now. And for stuff you’re frequently working with, and don’t want to lose track of, you can easily pin files to your Chromebook’s shelf.

Chromebook Plus models are getting a few upgrades beyond what the rest of the lineup will see, including AI-powered Live Translate for basically anything you’re watching on your Chromebook screen. If you’re looking to capture a conversation, the new Recorder app will offer automatic transcriptions, complete with speaker labels and summaries. And speaking of audio, Google’s implementing some AI-based microphone simulation models to offer the highest possible fidelity on all your video calls. There are even some tweaks to boost camera performance, and neither of these upgrades will be restricted to Meet, and should offer enhanced performance across the board.

This new Chromebook Plus stuff should start arriving as updates hitting your Chromebook across the month of October — don’t be surprised if you don’t see it land immediately, nor all at once. There’s also the summary “Help me read” feature for PDFs and websites that will start deploying in the weeks to come, and is already set to get a big update next year, letting you specify passages that require more detailed explanation.

Finally, if any of this new functionality gets you feeling particularly excited about the power of AI (and we’re betting Google hopes it might), the company is extending its offer for three free months of Google One AI Premium to all new Chromebook purchases.