Dropbox Integrates Dash AI Features into Main App, Acquires Mobius Labs

Dropbox is bringing its Dash AI features into the main app

Dropbox is integrating some of Dash's AI features into its main app, giving its users access to a smarter search function, summaries and contextual answers from the files they've uploaded to the app. The company launched Dash back in 2023 as an "AI-powered universal search bar" that people can use to find information in their work-related apps like Slack, Canva, Google Workspace and Microsoft Outlook. However, it's primarily a tool for larger businesses that use Dropbox. This time, though, the company is bringing its search capabilities into the main app for everyone to use. For now, the Dash AI-powered capabilities in the Dropbox app are only available to a small group of users, but they will be widely available in the coming months. Like most other AI chatbots, the AI in the app will allow users to use natural language to describe what they're looking for, whether it's a PDF or a photo. They can also ask the AI to summarize or find what's new in specific files already in their account. Dropbox is working with a startup called Mobius Labs, as well, to give Dash AI the capabilities to search within videos, audio and images "soon." Those who'd like to give Dash's AI features in the Dropbox app a try can sign up for the waitlist if they haven't been invited to test them out yet. Meanwhile, the Dash app itself is now available to teams of all sizes even if they don't have a Dropbox plan.

Dropbox is bringing more of its Dash AI features to all users

Availability is still limited, as users will have to join a wait list Dropbox is adding more of its Dash AI features into the main app and interface to make it easier for workers to find what they need. Launched in 2023 as a universal search bar that connects with third-party apps such as Slack, Canva and Google Workspace, Dash will now support smarter search, summaries and contextual answers across files stored in Dropbox. Progress doesn't stop there, either, because Dropbox has promised to add multimodal search soon which will support searching within videos, audio and images, via a partnership with Mobius Labs. It was a natural progression, really, for Dropbox to bring its AI tool to its own platform, though nobody expected it to take this long - and you'll need to join a waitlist for early access for now The company stated 95% of AI tools fail because they lack context across apps, so maybe building in support for third parties was a priority so that, when Dash launched within Dropbox, it would be even more powerful. "It's like having an AI teammate that actually understands you and your team," Dropbox said. There are two ways to access Dash - first is an app that's' easy to set up and aims to tackle scattered and siloed content, and second is the new Dropbox integration. At the same time, Dropbox also announced the new Dash MCP server, which means MCP-compatible apps like Claude, Cursor and Goose can access the search features from within their own interfaces. "Whether you're drafting an email or reviewing code, the answers and insights you need are always at your fingertips with Dash," the company wrote. For now, the Dash app is only available to teams in the US and in English only, however no Dropbox plan is required. Wider Dash in Dropbox availability will follow "in the coming months."

Dropbox debuts new search features, acquires AI startup Mobius Labs - SiliconANGLE

Dropbox debuts new search features, acquires AI startup Mobius Labs Dropbox Inc. today introduced new artificial intelligence features that will make it easier for users to search the files they keep in its platform. The company also announced that it has acquired Mobius Labs GmbH, a venture-backed AI model developer. Dropbox will use the startup's technology to enhance its platform's search features. Both announcements focus on a tool called Dash that the company introduced in 2023. It enables workers to search for files across Dropbox and third-party services such as Jira. Until today, Dash was only available as a standalone application. Dropbox is now rolling out a version of the tool that is integrated into its file sharing platform. Dash is accessible through a new sidebar in the platform's interface. It enables users to enter natural language descriptions such as "last week's marketing plan" instead of specific file names. After Dash finds a document requested by the user, it can summarize its contents or extract specific data points. Workers can enter follow-up requests if the initial prompt response doesn't fully answer their questions. Dash is also capable of consolidating information spread across multiple files into a single overview. The new AI features are rolling out to Dropbox alongside an update to the original standalone Dash application. Previously, installing the software required customers to contact the software maker's sales department. Workers can now skip that step, which Dropbox says reduces the installation workflow to a few minutes. A newly released MCP server for Dash will enable third-party AI applications to interact with the tool. Users of the Cursor programming assistant, for example, can now access Dash without leaving the interface and have it search code files stored in Dropbox. MCP is an open-source protocol designed to let AI models interact with external applications. Going forward, Dropbox plans to extend Dash's search capabilities using technology from a newly acquired startup called Mobius Labs. The startup has developed a series of multimodal AI models called Aana. The algorithms enable users to find specific moments in a video with natural language prompts. A developer, for example, could ask Aana to jump to the part of a video that explains how to use a newly launched MCP server. Aana can carry out multimodal searches in a hardware-efficient manner thanks to a software module called HQQ. The module performs quantization, which is the task of compressing an AI model to reduce its memory requirements. Mobius Labs says that HQQ can quantize models faster than competing technologies.