Key Takeaways
- Google is expanding its Nano Banana AI image generator to three core services: Search, Photos, and NotebookLM.
- The distinctive yellow icon builds brand recognition and familiarity.
- Nano Banana’s integration into widely used apps signals Google’s plans for mainstream use.
Google has begun sprinkling its Nano Banana image generation magic onto core services like Google Search, Google Photos and its AI research tool, NotebookLM, expanding its reach beyond dedicated AI tools into the essential apps billions use daily, including those currently unfamiliar with artificial intelligence.
Nano Banana: Now In Search and NotebookLM
As revealed in a recent The Keyword blog, users in the U.S. and India can now access the Nano Banana model directly from within Google Lens or AI Mode searches.
By tapping on the new banana-shaped “Create” icon, users can edit and generate images without needing a separate AI app. Snap a selfie with Google Lens, and Nano Banana will suggest edits such as “Create a painting of me,” or “turn me into a figurine.” Alternatively, you can type your own prompt to create whatever you want, refining any required changes in a back-and-forth conversation until you get a result you like.
Google has also added Nano Banana image generation to NotebookLM, bringing a significant upgrade to its built-in Video Overviews feature. NotebookLM’s Video Overviews automatically summarize your source information into short, presentation-style videos. These videos now gain six Nano Banana-powered visual styles, including Watercolor, Papercraft, Anime, Whiteboard, Retro Print and Heritage.
According to Google, the new visual styles have begun rolling out in all supported languages to Pro users, suggesting that the feature won’t be restricted to the U.S. and India. Standard users can expect to receive the feature “in the upcoming weeks.”
Google Photos Is Next
Hinted at in a previous leak, perhaps the most exciting application of Nano Banana will be its inclusion in Google Photos, due to arrive “in the weeks ahead.”
An earlier app teardown has already revealed an unreleased “Create” feature in Google Photos that uses generative AI to perform tasks such as converting pictures of people into various graphical styles, or inserting their likeness into existing images and memes. Google has now confirmed that Nano Banana will power these features, although the exact details are not yet known.
As we’ve seen above with Google Search and NotebookLM, Nano Banana can be deployed in very different ways: Where Search gives you free rein to type whatever you want as a prompt. NotebookLM’s use of Nano Banana appears to be strictly behind the scenes. The impact of the tech on Google Photos will depend on the features and level of customization Google chooses to enable in the app.
For example, Nano Banana has proven particularly adept at restoring old and damaged photos. A one-touch solution for this would be a powerful addition to Google Photos, aligning with its original concept as a library and editor for your photos and videos, rather than turning it into a viral content-making machine.
Nano Banana Everywhere. What Is Google’s Plan?
Nano Banana has proven tremendously popular in Gemini, bringing tens of millions of new users to the app and generating over 5 billion images in a matter of weeks. But does it really belong in Search? Would you immediately think of Google Search as the place to create AI headshots or turn yourself into a plastic action figure? Would you reach for Google Lens, rather than the camera app, when you want to take a photo?
Nevertheless, with Google Search estimated to service upward of 13 billion searches per day, that new yellow icon is going to appear in front of a vast number of people on a regular basis. It will also be hard to miss, often appearing as the only colored icon in the interface; it’s sure to spark considerable curiosity and interest—a fact Google will be banking on in its quest for AI dominance.
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