While author-driven and publisher lawsuits against AI companies continue, major publishers including HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House are also striking licensing agreements and partnerships with AI firms like Google. HarperCollins signed a $5,000-per-title AI training deal in 2024, and Wiley reported $49 million in AI licensing revenue for fiscal 2026, alongside collaborations with Amazon, Microsoft, and Anthropic. A 2025 industry survey found 63% of publishing professionals now use AI internally for tasks like royalty statements and proofreading.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-21
Google has rolled out its Notebooks feature within Gemini to Workspace and Google Education account holders, months after it launched for regular Gmail users in April. The feature lets students, educators and enterprise users organize notes and web resources into notebooks to build reports, slide decks and study materials directly inside Gemini. Google also extended the ability to import books from Google Play Books into notebooks, a feature previously limited to consumer accounts.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-18
Google has added the ability to import purchased Google Play Books directly into Gemini Notebook, letting users query and analyze book content alongside other sources like documents and videos. The feature initially covers about 100,000 titles from publishers such as Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, and O'Reilly Media, plus special notebooks created with over 15 bestselling authors. This launch marks the start of Google's broader Expert Intelligence initiative, which will eventually expand to other products, third-party subscriptions, and textbooks.
zdnet.com
· 2026-08-31
Google is letting Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) users import select owned ebooks from Google Play Books directly into notebooks for analysis. The feature, called Expert Intelligence, covers over 100,000 titles from publishers like Penguin Random House and O'Reilly Media, and includes partnerships with 15 bestselling authors. Users can then apply Gemini Notebook tools like Audio Overviews and Infographics to the imported book content, and combine multiple titles in one notebook.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-08-28
Google has updated Gemini Notebook with an 'Expert Intelligence' feature that lets users import books bought through Google Play Books, enabling them to ask questions, generate summaries, plans, infographics, and AI podcasts based on the text. More than 100,000 titles from publishers including Penguin Random House and O'Reilly Media support the feature at launch, and Google partnered with 15 authors like Michael Pollan and Steven Pinker to build customized 'Featured Notebooks.'
theverge.com
· 2026-08-27
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