Google’s answer to Microsoft Copilot is finally here

By Fionna Agomuoh Published August 29, 2023

Recommended Videos

Google is adding to its AI repertoire with a new plug-in that will serve corporate teams for the not-so-low price of $30 per month. It’s called Google Duet, and it allows you to translate your documents into various different Google apps with a click.

The Google Duet assistant is now available after being showcased at the Google I/O developer conference in May. The assistant is compatible with Google’s Workspace apps, including Gmail, Drive, Slides, Docs, and others.

As with many forthcoming AI tools, Google Duet is intended to simplify the functionality of the standard Workspace apps for the business setting. Google has has over a million people testing the assistant ahead of its launch. However, the brand already highlighted several features, including one that converts data from Google Docs into a Google Slides slideshow or sorts out data into a spreadsheet in Google Sheets. Duet is also able to do more mundane AI tasks, such as craft email responses, check spelling and grammar, and generate images. You can also use prompts to fetch items from your Drive and summarize your documents, CNBC said.

Google Duet is a direct competitor of Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant, which became available in August and works in a similar fashion by optimizing the functions of Microsoft 365 for corporate teams. Both assistants have been described as smarter versions of the Clippy assistant from Microsoft Office.

Google told CNBC that Duet is currently being targeted toward larger organizations, with the pricing currently set at $30 per month, per user. The brand is still working out the cost of Duet for smaller organizations.

Notably, Google Duet and Microsoft Copilot are based on AI that are still a work in progress as they are being marketed as professional tools. Duet is built on Google Bard, while Copilot is an arm of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The language models of both are known for hallucinating false information, among other mishaps. Those using these assistants in a corporate setting are advised to double-check work put through Google Duet.

Computing Writer

Fionna Agomuoh is a Computing Writer at Digital Trends. She covers a range of topics in the computing space, including…

Topics

Computing

ChatGPT now lets you create and edit images faster and more reliably

Its new image generation model promises up to four times faster creation and more precise edits.

ChatGPT Image announcement banner.

After upgrading ChatGPT with its latest GPT-5.2 model last week, OpenAI has rolled out a major improvement for the chatbot's image generation capabilities, positioning it as a strong competitor to Google's Nano Banana Pro. Powered by OpenAI's new flagship image generation model, the latest version of ChatGPT Images promises up to four times faster image generation and far more accurate, reliable results that closely follow user instructions.

OpenAI says the new image generation model performs better, both when users generate images from scratch and when they edit existing photos. It preserves important details across edits while giving users precise control over changes. Users can add, subtract, combine, blend, and transpose elements while editing, and even add stylistic filters or perform conceptual transformations.

Computing

Gemini web app just got Opal where you can build mini apps with no code

Google Labs' Opal is now in Gemini's Gems manager, letting you chain prompts, models, and tools into shareable workflows.

Opal in Gemini

Opal is now inside the Gemini web app, which means you can build reusable AI mini-apps right where you already manage Gems. If you’ve been waiting for an easier way to create custom Gemini tools without writing code, this is Google’s latest experiment to try.

Google Labs describes Opal as a visual, natural-language builder for multi-step workflows, the kind that chain prompts, model calls, and tools into a single mini app. Google also says Opal handles hosting, so once an app’s ready, you can share it without setting up servers or deploying anything yourself.

Computing

Love the Now Brief on Galaxy phones? Google just built something better

CC launches in early access today for consumer account users 18+ in the U.S. and Canada, starting with Google AI Ultra and paid subscribers.

CC AI Agent

Google Labs just introduced CC, an experimental AI productivity agent built with Gemini that sends a Google CC daily briefing to your inbox every morning. The idea is to replace your usual tab-hopping with one “Your Day Ahead” email that spells out what’s on deck and what to do next.

If you like the habit of checking a daily summary like Now Brief on Galaxy phones, CC is Google’s take, but with a different home base. Instead of living as something you check on your phone, Google is putting the briefing in email and letting you reply to it for follow-up help.