gemini capabilities

Canvas is Gemini's side-by-side interactive workspace for collaborating with the model on documents, slide presentations, code, and runnable apps without leaving the chat. The Canvas panel opens to the right of the conversation so users can iterate on a draft, deck, or prototype while still prompting in the main thread.

Gemini executes Python (and renders web apps) inside the Canvas code-interpreter sandbox to compute results, plot data, and prototype small applications. Code in Canvas is auto-saved; runnable previews appear in the Canvas panel; Python can be one-click exported to a Google Colab notebook for further iteration.

Gemini Projects (ChatGPT-style folders for grouping related chats) is in limited rollout as of May 2026. Native broad availability of Projects has not been announced; the historical organizational primitive is Gems rather than folder-based Projects.

Gems are Google's equivalent of GPTs: persistent custom AI assistants with their own name, instructions, and optional knowledge files. Users can create their own Gems, use premade Gems (Brainstormer, Career guide, Coding partner, Learning coach, Writing editor), or browse a public Gem gallery containing over 10,000 Gems.

Deep Research is Gemini's agentic web-research mode: the user states a topic, Gemini generates a research plan, autonomously browses dozens to hundreds of web pages (optionally Gmail/Drive/Chat), iterates, and produces a long-form structured report with inline citations. In 2026 it produces charts and infographics, and a higher-tier 'Deep Research Max' uses extended test-time compute for the highest-quality reports.

Gemini accepts a wide range of file types including documents, images, audio, video, code folders, and GitHub repositories. Per-prompt and per-file size limits vary by plan; larger context window and longer media on paid plans.

Gemini Agent and Gemini Spark are the consumer-facing agentic capabilities: Agent performs multi-step web tasks on the user's behalf (booking, filling forms, comparing options) inside the Gemini app, and Spark is a 24/7 personal agent that runs proactively in the background on phone and laptop. Both are gated to Google AI Ultra.

Gemini Live is a real-time, hands-free spoken conversation mode where the user can talk to Gemini, interrupt, change topics, and optionally share camera or screen so Gemini can see what the user is looking at and respond verbally. Available primarily on mobile (Android, iOS) with limited Live access on the web.

Beyond the standalone gemini.google.com app, Gemini is embedded into Google Workspace apps as a side-panel assistant: Help me write in Gmail and Docs, Help me visualize in Slides, formula/insights in Sheets, Take notes for me in Meet, and AI video drafting in Vids. Workspace embeds inherit Workspace data-handling guarantees (no training on user data).

Gemini generates and edits images natively via the Nano Banana family (Nano Banana 2 / Gemini 3.1 Flash Image as the default, Nano Banana Pro built on Gemini 3 Pro for higher quality) plus Imagen-derived models exposed via Google Flow. Supports text-to-image, image editing, character/scene consistency, and personalized images using Google Photos faces with consent.

Gemini integrates with Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Calendar, Keep, Tasks) and other Google services (Maps, YouTube, Flights, Hotels). Formerly invoked as '@-extensions', many are now direct integrations.

Gemini retains full chat history in 'Gemini Apps Activity' (being renamed 'Keep Activity') with chronological prompts and responses. Gemini can also recall past chats to personalize responses in new conversations — past-chats personalization is on by default for new accounts.

Gemini supports both 'Saved info' (long-term memory of user preferences/context) and 'Custom instructions' that apply to every chat. Memory items can be added in-conversation by phrasing prompts like 'remember...' and managed in Settings.

Four consumer tiers as of May 2026: Free (Gemini Basic, $0), Google AI Plus ($7.99/mo, 2x Free usage), Google AI Pro ($19.99/mo, 4x Free usage), Google AI Ultra (starting at $99.99/mo for 5x Pro usage, with a $199.99/mo tier for 20x Pro usage). The pricing page on gemini.google/subscriptions was refreshed at I/O 2026 — the prior $9.99 Plus and $249.99 Ultra figures have been replaced.

Any Gemini chat can be shared as a public, link-only snapshot at a g.co/gemini/share/... URL. The shared page renders the full conversation as it existed at link-creation time, including Canvas docs, images, and generated videos. Recipients without a Google account can view; signed-in users (18+, non-Gem chats) can continue the chat in their own Gemini Apps.

Gemini generates video clips via Veo 3.1 / Veo 3.1 Fast inside the Gemini app, and via the new Gemini Omni multimodal model (announced at I/O 2026) which is rolling out to replace Veo in the consumer app as a unified create-and-edit-video model.

Gemini grounds its answers in real-time Google Search results when a query benefits from current information, surfacing inline citations and a 'Sources and related content' panel so users can verify claims. This is Gemini's everyday web-access capability, distinct from the multi-step Deep Research agent.