Google Retires the NotebookLM Brand, Renames Tool Gemini Notebook

Google has ended a three-year experiment with the NotebookLM brand. As of July 16, 2026, the tool for analyzing documents and notes operates under the name Gemini Notebook, dropping the LM abbreviation that never meant much to most users anyway.

NotebookLM built its reputation as a tool that could rapidly summarize stacks of documents, generate mind maps, and turn uploaded material into podcasts. The LM abbreviation, short for Language Model, was meant to evoke the technology behind the product, but in practice it confused users unfamiliar with industry jargon.

What's Actually Changing

The notebook's core functionality stays the same, but its place in Google's ecosystem is shifting. The company has connected the tool to a secure virtual machine in the cloud, so Gemini Notebook can now write and run code directly while analyzing uploaded data, rather than being limited to text summaries.

The Google vice president who oversees Google Labs, the Gemini app, and AI Studio described the change as a continuation rather than a product overhaul.

It's the same standalone product, it's now just doing more across the whole Google ecosystem - Josh Woodward, Vice President, Google Labs, Gemini app and AI Studio

Code execution is rolling out first to paying Google AI Ultra subscribers and business customers with Expanded Access. Pro plan users on desktop are expected to get access in the coming weeks, and Google says it also plans to gradually extend notebook features to AI Mode in Search.

Google's Rebranding Pattern

The NotebookLM renaming fits a pattern Google has followed for over a year now. The company tests new AI features under separate, experimental names, then folds the product into the Gemini brand once it matures and builds a user base. Other experimental tools from Google Labs have met the same fate.

For NotebookLM itself, though, this is more than a cosmetic rebrand. The tool inspired competitors to build their own podcast-generation and research-summary features, and its popularity among students, journalists, and analysts made it one of Google's most recognizable AI products outside the Gemini chatbot itself.

What It Means for Users in Poland

For Polish users who rely on NotebookLM to work with legal documents, study materials, or company reports, the name change itself requires no action - accounts, saved notebooks, and history remain unchanged. The real news is code execution inside the notebook, which lets users, for example, automatically recalculate data from an uploaded spreadsheet or generate an interactive chart without moving the data to a separate tool.

Companies using Google Workspace with expanded AI access should see the new feature first, before it reaches standard Pro plans. It's another sign that Google treats paying business customers as priority recipients of new analytical capabilities in its AI tools.

Syncing notebooks with the Gemini app and Search, announced as a next step, could in practice mean that material uploaded to Gemini Notebook becomes accessible during ordinary Google Search queries - a change worth watching closely from a privacy standpoint for uploaded documents.