Google NotebookLM, Veo 2, Google Flow & More: Google's New AI Tools Explained (2026)

Google's AI ambitions have always been enormous — the company invented many of the foundational techniques used in modern AI, including the Transformer architecture that underpins almost every large language model in existence today. But for years, Google's consumer AI products lagged behind its research. That changed decisively in 2024-2026, as Google launched a wave of genuinely impressive AI tools that go far beyond Gemini chat.

This article covers Google's most significant new AI tools in 2026 — NotebookLM, Google Veo 2, Google Flow, Google Imagen 3, Google Beam, Google Jules, and Project Astra — explaining what each tool does, who it's for, and how to access it in the UK.

NotebookLM: Your AI Research Assistant

Available at: notebooklm.google.com | Cost: Free (limited), NotebookLM Plus with Gemini Advanced (£18.99/month)

NotebookLM lets you upload your documents and have a conversation with them. It's a "grounded" AI — responses are based exclusively on your source materials, eliminating AI hallucination on your specific documents.

What you can upload: PDFs, Google Docs, Word documents, YouTube video URLs, audio files, web pages, Google Slides, plain text.

What you can generate: Briefing documents, FAQ documents, study guides, timelines, and Audio Overviews — a 10-15 minute podcast-style conversation between two AI hosts discussing your documents.

NotebookLM Plus adds: 300 sources per notebook (vs 50 free), 30-minute Audio Overviews, customisable hosts, shared notebooks for teams.

Best for: Students, researchers, journalists, legal professionals, business analysts — anyone dealing with large amounts of information.

Google Veo 2: AI Video Generation

Available at: video.google.com (VideoFX / Google AI Studio) | Cost: Free tier available

Veo 2 is Google's second-generation AI video model. Features: text-to-video, image-to-video animation, video extension, and stylised video generation in specific visual styles.

Use cases: Marketing videos, social media content, concept visualisation, educational content, creative filmmaking prototyping.

Limitations: 4-8 seconds per generation, can take minutes for high-quality output, occasional AI artifacts (warping, inconsistent physics). Best as a brainstorming/prototyping tool.

Google Flow: AI Filmmaking Studio

Available at: labs.google.com/flow | Cost: Gemini Advanced required

Flow builds on Veo 2 to create multi-shot, coherent video productions with consistent characters, settings, and visual style. Key features: consistent cast across clips, cinematic shot language control, scene continuity, and timeline-based shot planning.

Best for: Independent filmmakers, content creators, advertising agencies — professional video without large production budgets.

Google Imagen 3: AI Image Generation

Available at: Via Gemini ("Generate image of..."), Google AI Studio, Google Workspace | Cost: Free in Gemini / Gemini Advanced for higher quality

Imagen 3 competes with Midjourney and DALL-E 3. Standout features: exceptional photorealism, accurate text rendering in images, strong prompt adherence, and robust safety filtering.

Google Beam: Premium AI Video Calling

Formerly: Project Starline | Availability: Enterprise hardware, limited consumer preview

Beam uses specialised hardware and AI to create three-dimensional presence in video calls — AI gaze correction, 3D spatial depth, background removal, ultra-low latency. Currently targeting enterprise customers. Its AI components (gaze correction, background effects) are filtering into standard Google Meet.

Google Jules: AI Coding Agent

Available at: jules.google.com (waitlist) | Cost: Early access free

Jules is Google's autonomous AI coding agent — works independently on GitHub repositories, reads issues, understands full codebases, makes changes, runs tests, and submits pull requests. Supports parallel tasks across multiple sandboxes. Best for: offloading routine bug fixes, test writing, refactoring, and documentation from development teams.

Project Astra: Google's Universal AI Agent

Available: Google Pixel 11 Pro hardware; web preview via Google AI Studio

Project Astra is described as a "universal AI agent" — uses the Pixel 11 Pro camera as eyes for real-time vision understanding, persistent session memory, action-taking in apps, and real-time multilingual translation.

Point camera at anything: "What's written on this?" "Is this product good value?" — Astra analyses and responds in real-time. The most advanced AI vision experience available on any consumer device.

Google AI Tools Summary

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