Google has released a new AI note-taking app called Google AI Edge Foresight, positioning it against Granola and other tools in the meeting-notes market. The Mac app runs entirely offline using the on-device EmbeddingGemma 2 model, which has 740 million parameters, to capture meeting notes across apps, including notes from in-person meetings. The release builds on an AI-powered dictation tool Google put out earlier in April that worked with local models.
The app shares structural similarities with Granola, offering a split-screen view where users write shorthand notes on one side while AI-generated notes appear on the other. Like Granola, it allows manual note-taking during transcription. In Google's app, users can also review the meeting transcript or chat with a Gemma 4-powered assistant to get answers.
Beyond note-taking, Google AI Edge Foresight lets users upload documents to build a knowledge base, including PDFs, Google Docs, Microsoft Office formats, plain text, Markdown, and web bookmarks. The app can draw on those meeting notes and documents to answer questions in real time when a point tied to the knowledge base comes up during a meeting. On its FAQ page, Google said the app is optimized for Apple Silicon and can work completely offline, meaning users can access their meeting notes while traveling or in locations without an internet connection.
Google's earlier dictation app was experimental and never reached mainstream usage. The company's new meeting note-taker may serve primarily to showcase the capabilities of its Gemma series of offline models. Google could also release a consumer version of the meeting note-taker that works across video calling apps through its Gemini apps while relying on its cloud models.
The meeting note-taker space remains competitive and crowded, though that has not stopped companies from building their own tools. In recent months, dictation company Wispr and scheduling company Calendly each released note-takers of their own. Productivity startup Superhuman, formerly known as Grammarly, acquired YC-backed note-taker Fathom last month.
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