Google’s AI-powered note-taking app, Google NotebookLM, just got a teen-friendly update. Originally limited to users 18 and older, it’s now available to anyone 13 and up, including Google Workspace for Education users. That is right: your younger sibling can now use AI to study smarter, not harder.
This shift is all about giving younger students access to a powerful research and learning tool. With NotebookLM, students can turn their class notes into podcast-style Audio Overviews, brainstorm with Mind Maps, and even generate Video Overviews from PDFs and images, all with a few clicks. It’s like having a tutor, a note-taker, and a presentation coach in one tab.
Related: OpenAI and Google Just Cracked Olympiad-Level Math; But With Different Approaches.
But not everyone is cheering. The expansion comes at a time when the role of AI in education is under the microscope, especially around data privacy and ethical use. Google says it is ahead of the curve: stricter content filters kick in automatically for users under 18, and none of their chats or uploads are used to train Google’s AI or reviewed by humans.
NotebookLM’s move also signals a growing turf war in AI-powered education. Just a few weeks ago, OpenAI dropped its own “study mode” for ChatGPT. So yes, the AI classroom arms race is officially on.
