Google is democratizing AI access in Workspace. The company is adding Gemini functionality to existing Workspace subscriptions, making them slightly more expensive for some. The company’s betting that the AI tools will more than make up for the difference.
Google has announced that it will integrate AI functionality for Workspace Business and Enterprise subscriptions. This move is intended to make AI tools more accessible to businesses, with no or slight price increases.
However, a slight price change has been introduced at the same time. Google says it wants to simplify its pricing structure by including AI directly in existing subscriptions. For new customers, the price change goes into effect immediately, while existing customers will switch to the new prices from March 17, 2025 or when they renew their annual subscription. In other words: those going AI-free will have to pay $2 more than before on a Workspace Business Standard account. If one is using AI, though, then this is a better deal.
Incidentally, Google Workspace already went up in price early last year, with no major additions appearing to make the higher rates more manageable at the time. This time, there’s something to be gained for all involved.
Gemini integration in Workspace
Gemini’s integration into Workspace includes several applications. Users get AI support in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Meet, Chat and other Workspace apps. The features are familiar by now: for example, Gemini can help summarize emails, create documents and find information inside files. Business customers have access to these capabilities today – Enterprise subscriptions will have to wait until later this month.
In addition to these tools, Gemini Advanced is also available for more complex tasks such as coding, research and data analysis. Also added is NotebookLM Plus, an AI research assistant that helps workers understand complex topics. We covered it earlier when this new version came out in December:
Read more: Google Workspace features assistant for complex content
Simplified pricing structure
As Google automatically enables AI functionality, it reminds users of its own commitment to data security and compliance. The company stresses that customer data will not be used to train AI models without permission and that existing security rules will be automatically applied to Gemini.
In the area of compliance, Google has been making strides for some time. It introduced regional data storage in mid-2024, for example, so that European companies do not keep data in North America. This still remains a tenuous legal issue: it is as yet unknown whether the U.S. government can force Google to still access Europeans’ data, even if the information is located elsewhere.