One of Google’s most powerful advantages in the AI race lies in its deep familiarity with individual users. According to Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, the company sees a major opportunity in using personal data across its ecosystem to create AI that feels uniquely helpful—because it knows you. This vision centers on AI that learns from your interactions with Gmail, Calendar, Drive, location history, browsing habits, and more, enabling more tailored and context-aware responses. In a recent episode of the Limitless podcast, Stein highlighted that many of the questions people ask Google today are not just factual but involve advice or recommendations—areas where personalized insights can make a meaningful difference. For example, instead of showing a generic list of top-selling products, Google’s AI could recommend items aligned with your past preferences, purchase history, or even your expressed interests in emails or documents. This personalization is already being rolled out through Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, which now integrates into core Workspace apps like Gmail, Calendar, and Drive. Features like Gemini Deep Research pull in personal data to deliver more informed answers. The goal is to build an AI that understands your habits, priorities, and tastes so it can anticipate needs—like suggesting a restaurant based on your past dining patterns or reminding you of an upcoming event tied to a specific email thread. But this level of insight comes with a growing privacy concern. As AI becomes central to Google’s products, avoiding data collection may become harder, especially since access to these features often depends on sharing personal information. Unlike opt-in services, users may find themselves implicitly surrendering data just to use core tools. The situation echoes themes from the Apple TV show Pluribus, where an AI system known as “Others” gathers intimate details about individuals and uses them to manipulate or serve them in ways that feel invasive rather than helpful. The protagonist, Carol, is unsettled by how much the system knows about her—even though she never consented to sharing her data. Similarly, Google’s AI could blur the line between helpful assistant and surveillance tool if users don’t feel in control. Google acknowledges these concerns. It offers users control through the “Connected Apps” setting in Gemini, where they can choose which services the AI can access. The company also states that data used for personalization is governed by its privacy policy, which warns users not to share confidential information and notes that human reviewers may occasionally read some content to improve the service. To address transparency, Stein emphasized that Google plans to clearly indicate when AI responses are personalized—so users know when they’re getting a response tailored just for them versus a generic one. The company also envisions proactive features, like push notifications when a product you’ve been researching goes on sale, or when a meeting is rescheduled based on your calendar and email context. Ultimately, Google sees the future of search not as a single feature or device, but as a seamless, intelligent layer across all aspects of a user’s digital life. The challenge will be delivering that vision without making users feel watched. If Google gets the balance right, its AI could become an indispensable personal assistant. If not, it risks feeling less like a helper and more like an intruder.