Google unveils Googlebook, a new line of AI-native laptops

On Tuesday, Google unveiled Googlebook, a new line of laptops built around Gemini, the company’s family of AI models. The new devices, which are set to launch this fall, represent a shift in Google’s hardware strategy. Google is working with hardware partners including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to produce the laptops. A key feature of the Googlebook is “Magic Pointer,” an AI-powered cursor. According to Alexander Kuscher, Google’s senior director of Android tablets and laptops, the cursor uses Gemini to provide contextual suggestions based on what is on the screen. “As you wiggle and you move over the screen, it will tell you what it can interact with, and contextually offer you the actions that you can do … It really exemplifies how we think about AI features throughout Googlebooks. It’s built in, but not in your face,” Kuscher said.

The Googlebook laptops will also be compatible with Android phones, allowing users to run mobile applications and access files directly from their laptops. For instance, users can open phone apps on the Googlebook or retrieve files through the laptop’s file browser. Additionally, the devices will feature “Create your Widget,” a tool that allows users to build custom widgets by prompting Gemini. This feature can pull information from the web and connect with Google applications like Gmail and Calendar to build a personalized dashboard, such as compiling flight and hotel details for a trip to Berlin.

This launch comes 15 years after Google introduced the Chromebook, the browser-based laptop line that became a fixture in schools and workplaces worldwide. The new Googlebooks will essentially succeed the Chromebook line, although the company won’t outright say so. A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email that the company plans to continue supporting current Chromebook users, with devices receiving updates through their existing support commitments. However, Google is beginning a transition away from ChromeOS—Google’s legacy laptop operating system—toward an Android-based operating system.

This shift is a strategic platform play. By building an Android-based operating system with AI at its foundation, Google is positioning itself to compete directly with Microsoft and its Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft’s AI-native laptop line.

Why it matters

This launch signals a major pivot for Google, moving away from ChromeOS toward an Android-based operating system to directly challenge Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC ecosystem.