Google’s AI assistant, Gemini, will now automatically summarize long emails without asking first. This takes out the need to intentionally click a button to get summaries.
After Gemini runs the task, the summaries appear as cards at the top of your emails. This change is live as of May 30, 2025.
However, this only applies to Gmail users with English-language accounts. Also, this feature is not mandatory, you can opt out.
Email Summary Cards
Email summary cards highlight the main points of a long email, and they appear above the message body. These summaries also update as replies come in.
You can also still use the manual “Summarize” button. It appears as a chip above your email and remains in Gemini’s side panel.
Optional to Automatic
Previously, Gemini required user action. You had to open the side panel and choose what the AI should do.
Now, Gemini summarizes long emails by default. And this change came about to save time and improve productivity.
Region-Based Settings
Depending on where you live, the feature may be off by default. For example, users in the EU, UK, Switzerland, and Japan have smart features turned off.
This is because privacy laws in those areas require user consent. Users in other regions may see the summaries turned on, but the setting can be managed anytime.
A Helpful Feature With Limits
Automatic summaries can save time: they help users scan long emails quickly. However, the summaries could be inaccurate.
As an instance, Apple’s AI has a history of generating false summaries and recently faced backlash for its AI news summary feature. Consequently, this led to its shutdown.
Also, Google’s own AI Overviews have shown errors, sometimes suggesting incorrect or even harmful advice.
