Google Introduces 'Daily Listen': AI-Powered Personalized News Podcasts

On Daily Listen showcasing the promise of Google Discover

I like Google Discover and the feed -- for the most part -- surfaces interesting articles aligned with my interests. Reading, rather than listening, is how I usually consume information, but Google's new Daily Listen is remarkably compelling and boosts Discover in a meaningful way. 9to5Google has a rebooted newsletter that highlights the biggest Google stories with added commentary and other tidbits. Sign up here! Google announced Daily Listen this week as an experiment in Search Labs that US English users can opt-in to. This personal podcast comes in at under five minutes, starting with an overview of what will be discussed before jumping into the three topics. The player UI, which is built into the Google app, is rather nice with a live transcript as you listen. A mute button lets you just read it, but the voices are pretty human. Playback speed options range from 1-2x and the timeline notes each segment with the ability to skip, while 10-second rewind rounds out the controls. You can hide the player from the top-left left corner with system media controls available in notifications, while the 'x' opposite it ends playback entirely. As you scroll the Daily Listen interface, you get a feed of "Related stories" as a docked miniplayer above notes what part you're on. Each topic gets a section with three stories and images that presumably informed today's episode. You can express your interests via thumbs up/down and click "Search for more" to see a results page. I do think this short audio format will lead people to clicking on those links to learn more and get precise details, though I'm curious how that dynamic changes if Google ever offers the ability to increase episode length. The blue background is quite lively and clearly from Gemini, while the "Daily Listen" logo is badged with the AI sparkle. It feels a bit different from Google's usual UIs, while you access it from a prominent square card at the top of Discover. You can also open it from the left of your homescreen where it notably takes overs/replaces the feed (as seen below). My Discover feed has surfaced real gems over the years that I would have not otherwise found from my usual sources. Its key position to the left of the Android homescreen means I browse it casually throughout the day. I do get stories that I'm not interested in on occasion, but for the most part Discover accurately reflects my interests. For others, the complaint is that Discover surfaces clickbait articles. I've found that the "See less content like this," "Not interested in a topic," and "Don't show content from [publication]" controls go a long way towards customizing your feed. On a related note, Google Discover got a Material 3 redesign last month that increases the size of images and simplifies cards by placing all options in an overflow menu/sheet. Not having quick access to Save and Share in the corner is somewhat annoying, but does make the feed a bit cleaner. With this revamp, there's a bigger focus on following Search topics, which I've ignored, while I'm definitely seeing more carousels for "Short videos" and recently searched products to purchase. Both are fine in moderation, but it can be a bit much. If Daily Listen graduates from Search Labs, its place at the top of the Google Discover feed is pretty straightforward. I'm curious where else Google will bring the "podcast hosts having a discussion" concept after this, NotebookLM, and Spotify Recap. The ability to ask questions in Daily Listen would be interesting, though that's a bit more in the Gemini Live realm. Overall, Daily Listen is one of the better examples of adding Gemini to everything working out and resulting in something novel.

Google's New 'Daily Listen' Is a Personalized AI-Powered News Podcast

Google's New 'Daily Listen' Is a Personalized AI-Powered News Podcast Google has another new product for you to test, and once again, it's centered on AI: It's called Daily Listen, and it sums up news topics from your Discover feed and web searches to produce a short podcast of the news headlines. You can think of it as a personalized daily news bulletin created just for you. There's no official Google announcement of the feature, but the company provided the key details to multiple outlets, including 9to5Google. It's also being promoted on social media by Google engineers including Simon Tokumine and Usama Bin Shafqat -- they both work at Google Labs, where Google tests a lot of its newest ideas. Daily Listen lives in the Google app for Android or iOS on your phone, and right now is a Search Labs feature exclusive to users in the U.S. You need to opt into Daily Listen to give it a try: Tap the science flask icon in the top left corner of the Home tab in the Google app to sign up (according to Tokumine, spaces are limited). You can also find Search labs on the web here. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. With that done, Daily Listen should pop up under the main search bar on the Home tab in the app. Tap on it to get a roughly five-minute summary of the news Google thinks you'll be interested in -- based on what you've been searching for, and what's on the Discover page -- narrated by an AI voice. You also get a text transcript of what's being said, and links to the articles referenced at the end. The usual podcast playback controls are here, and you can adjust playback speed if you need to. There's also a familiar "Generative AI is experimental" message -- given the nature of generative AI, the assumption is that parts of your artificially generated news round up might not be completely accurate, but of course this is something Google hasn't mentioned while launching the feature. If this tech seems familiar, it may be because you can do something similar in the Google NotebookLM research tool: In that app, you can produce a document based on any combination of documents, text, and web links you've gathered together as a project. Presumably some of the same AI tricks are involved in summarizing the info, tweaking the tone, and producing a synthesized spoken audio version of the results. According to a statement given by a Google spokesperson to Search Engine Land, Daily Listen is "a personalized AI-powered audio experience on the Google app on Android and iOS, where you can easily stay up to date on the topics you care about. If you've tried NotebookLM's Audio Overviews, it's kind of like getting a quick rundown of things to know, personalized for you!" There's no guarantee that we'll eventually see this roll out to everyone as anything more than an experiment -- Google is notoriously bad at sticking with products -- but if it does have a long-term future, expect it to grow in terms of features and scope. Perhaps Google will let you interact with the podcast or at least customize it, as you can now do with the podcast maker in NotebookLM (Google has confirmed both Daily Listen and NotebookLM use the same AI). Apparently it might take a day or so for the feature to show up in Search Labs, and to be available once you've opted in. As with everything else released through Google's experimental platform, you'll be able to offer feedback on how well the feature works: Start with the thumbs up or thumbs down icons on the podcast player.

Google's Daily Listen AI feature generates a podcast based on your Discover feed

Google is testing a new "Daily Listen" feature that automatically generates a podcast based on your Discover feed. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that Daily Listen is a personalized AI-powered audio experience that is designed to help you stay up to date on the topics you care about. The feature is currently rolling out on the Google app on Android and iOS and will be open to U.S. users who have opted into the company's Search Labs experiment. With Daily Listen, you will get a podcast episode up to five minutes in length that gives you an overview of the stories and topics you're interested in. The podcast also gives you links to related stories that you can click on to learn more about the topics. Daily Listen is rooted in Discover, so the topics you follow on Search and Discover in the Google app will help you get a more personalized audio experience, Google says. Google also notes that Daily Listen is kind of like NotebookLM's Audio Overviews feature, which generates a podcast with AI virtual hosts based on information you have shared with the app, such as course readings or legal briefs. With Daily Listen, you're getting a quick rundown of things to know based on your personal interests. If you have access to the feature, you will see a new "Daily Listen" section on your home screen when you open up the Google app. The card will display a play button that shows you how long the podcast is, and from there, you can enter the audio experience. Once you open up the feature, you can start listening to the podcast alongside a rolling written transcript. You can scroll down to see "related stories" that offer a deeper look into the topics you're interested in.

Google's 'Daily Listen' lab is a personalized podcast based on your Discover feed

Google is kicking off a new experiment in Search Labs today called "Daily Listen." It's a bit like NotebookLM's Audio Overviews, while there are also podcast parallels. Through Discover and Search, Google is aware of what you are interested in. Daily Listen takes all that into account to create a 5 minute or so episode that provides an overview of stories and topics that you follow. This personalized AI-powered audio experiment will appear in the "Space" carousel underneath the Search bar at the top of the Google app on Android and iOS. Tapping the Daily Listen card, which is dated and labeled "Made for you," launches a fullscreen player. Badged with the Gemini sparkle, Daily Listen shows a text transcript where cover art usually appears. Noting how "Generative AI is experimental," you can give it thumbs up/down feedback. Then there's a scrubber with sections denoted, while controls include play/pause, 10-second rewind, next story, playback speed, and mute if you just want to read the transcript. At the bottom, you can scroll through "Related stories" corresponding to each section with the ability to "Search for more" and thumbs up/down the interest. A docked player appears at the top of the screen as you browse. Android and iOS users in the US can enable Daily Listen in Search Labs from the top-left corner of the Google app. It will take a day for the first episode to appear.

Google can turn your Discover feed into an AI-generated podcast

Google is testing an experimental AI feature that creates a personalized podcast using your Search and Discover feed history. The Daily Listen feature in Google's Search Labs is rolling out to Android and iOS users in the US according to 9to5Google, and works similarly to the Audio Overviews feature for Google's NotebookLM project. Daily Listen references search data and Discover feed interactions to assess which news articles would be of most interest to the user, and then summarizes those stories and topics into a roughly five-minute audio overview. It provides a text transcript, alongside audio scrubber controls that allow users to play, pause, mute, rewind, or skip to the next story. Search Labs users who opt-in to try this experiment will find Daily Listen in the personalized widget carousel underneath the Search bar at the top of the Google app. A "Related stories" tab will appear at the bottom of the audio player that corresponds to content within the overview that allows users to like or disapprove of each story with a thumbs up/down, and explore new topics. There's currently no word on when/if this feature will be rolled out to the wider public. Google's AI Search Overviews were tested in a similar way via Search Labs before launching to a general audience last year, so it's possible that Daily Listen may one day become a persistent feature -- hopefully one that's easier to opt out of than AI Overviews.

How Google Is Using AI to Turn Your Daily News Scroll into a Personalized Podcast

The experimental feature is similar to audio overviews on Google NotebookLM. Google wants you to press play on an AI-created podcast instead of scrolling for your daily news. The tech giant can now take what it knows of your interests through your Search and Discover histories and create a 5-minute podcast tailored just for you that summarizes news stories of the day that you might be interested in. Related: I Tried Making an AI-Hosted Podcast with Google's NotebookLM. It Worked Surprisingly Well. Google began testing the personalized, AI-created podcasts, called "Daily Listen," through Search Labs, the program that allows users to experience early-stage experiments, reports 9to5Google. The new experiment began rolling out on Wednesday to Android and iOS users in the U.S. The basis of Daily Listen is Google Search data and interactions that users have had with content on their Google Discover feeds. Using that data, the AI figures out which news articles a user would want to hear about, and summarizes those stories into an audio overview. Daily Listen gives users a text transcript of the 5-minute podcast and control to pause, mute, rewind, or skip to the following story, per The Verge. Users with access to Daily Listen will see the section pop up on their home screen on the Google app. Tapping the Daily Listen card under Search will launch the podcast. The podcast concept is similar to Google NotebookLM's audio overviews, which are AI-hosted podcasts that turn textbooks, study notes, and generally any collection of sources into a podcast discussion between two AI hosts. We tested NotebookLM and were surprised by how well it worked. The end result sounded like a podcast between two human beings, with perfect pacing, tone, and delivery. It was nearly impossible to tell that the podcast was narrated by AI.

Google's 'Daily Listen' AI generates customized mini podcasts

You already have your daily news briefing podcasts, but Google is taking things a step further by providing personalized AI-generated audio recaps of news based on your Search data. On Wednesday, Google announced Daily Listen, an experiment in its AI-testing ground Search Labs. Daily Listen lives at the top of the homepage in the Google app on Android and iOS. By clicking on the feature, you get a 5-minute or less audio recap of topics you're interested in, generated by AI. If you're familiar with Google's Notebook LM tool that generates a customized podcast from an initial text prompt, Daily Listen is similar to this, except the "prompt" is data collected from Search and Discover, a news feed curated by topics you follow in the Google app. So it's a combination of your browsing history and search interests manually set by the user. Clicking into Daily Listen starts the mini podcast episode and provides a real-time transcript of the audio. Below that, you'll find links to related stories and ways to explore topics more deeply. Google has previously tested AI Search Overviews, which provide an AI-generated summary of your query at the top of the page, and Notebook LM, the custom podcast generator in Search Labs, before launching them to the public. Search Labs gives users a sneak peek at what Google will likely soon release to the masses. By opting into Daily Listen in Search Labs, you authorize Google to use your Search data and Discover preferences to generate the audio recap. But once AI Overviews were made public, it became a default feature in Google Search, and is cumbersome to opt out of. It's likely Daily Overviews would go the same way if it gets a public launch. So users tired of seeing AI-generated features everywhere won't like what's coming. However, if this sounds cool to you, Daily Listen is available to test out by signing up for Search Labs and accessing the Google mobile app.

Google AI Feature Turns Your Search History, News Preferences Into a Podcast

Google is testing an AI-based feature that creates a personalized short podcast based on your Search history and preferred news topics in the Discover feed, 9to5Google reports. Called Daily Listen, the experimental feature appears below the search bar in the Google app on Android and iOS. It is currently open to users in the US who have signed up for Search Labs experiments, but there are "limited spots so grab yours in the Google app ASAP," says Usama Bin Shafqat from the Google Labs team. Daily Listen works like NotebookLM's Audio Overviews, but while NotebookLM creates a short podcast based on a prompt, Daily Listen examines topics and stories the user follows regularly. If the feature is enabled, a 5-minute podcast overview of a user's favorite topics will automatically appear in their Discover feed each day, 9to5Google says. The personalized podcast will be dated and labeled "Made for you." Tapping that thumbnail will launch a full-screen player with audio and transcription of the podcast. Users will be provided with usual playback controls, including one to adjust the playback speed. Users can give their "Daily Listen" a thumbs up or down. A Google spokesperson told the Search Engine Land that Daily Listen is "kind of like getting a quick rundown of things to know, personalized for you!" Google Search Labs previously tested AI Overviews before launching it publicly last year. It was caught producing inaccurate summaries for a wide range of queries. If you don't like seeing those summaries, you can consider dialing it down.

Want a quick daily podcast based on your interests? Try Google's latest AI experiment

Google is capturing the items and areas that most interest you and turning them into AI-generated podcasts for your listening pleasure. Now rolling out to iOS and Android users, a new experimental feature called Daily Listen will feature daily podcasts hosted by two AI bots. To generate the content, Google will use subjects that you search for as well as news stories that appear in your Discover feed. Summarizing your top topics through AI, each daily podcast will run for about five minutes, according to The Verge. The audio will provide scrubber controls to let you play, pause, mute, go back, or jump ahead to the next story. A text transcript will also appear so you can read the summaries as well. Also: The best AI tech of CES 2025 "Hey there, and welcome to your Daily Listen, a new experimental audio show by Google," one of the AI hosts announces in a trailer for the new podcast. "We're your hosts, powered by AI and prepared to deliver a quick update each day exclusively for you. It's personalized to your interests, so we'll cover the topics you follow and the things you search often. The show features info from across the web and will include related stories so you can easily keep exploring." The Daily Listen is the search giant's latest experimental feature available through Google Labs, the company's AI-focused technology testing ground. And if an AI-generated podcast sounds familiar, that's because Google's NotebookLM offers a similar option in which AI-based bots co-host a podcast based on your notes and research. In fact, the same two AI hosts heard in NotebookLM are just as chatty in the Daily Listen. The feature officially kicked off Thursday, though you may not have access to it just yet. However, I did find it on my iPhone and on an Android phone I also use. To check, open the Google app fo iOS or Android or browse to the Google website on an iPhone or Android device. Tap the test tube icon at the top, select the card for Daily Listen, and then turn on the switch for the podcast to appear in the Google app starting tomorrow. Each day you launch the Google app, you'll find a new podcast based on your recent searches and the latest stories in your Discover feed. Also: The most popular AI tools For now, the Daily Listen is available only in the Google app, only in English, and only in the US. Since the podcasts are generated using AI, Google cautions that inaccuracies and audio glitches may occur. As the feature is in an early test phase, the company also invites people to share feedback so that it can fine-tune the quality and performance.

Google's Latest AI Tool Uses Your Discover Feed to Create Custom Podcasts

The AI feature is said to generate up to five-minute-long podcasts Google has reportedly released Daily Listen, a new experimental artificial intelligence (AI) feature that can generate a podcast-style audio overview based on a user's Discover feed. The feature is currently to be available in the Android and iOS versions of the Google app in select regions. To be eligible for the feature in said locations, users will need to sign up to Google's Search Labs and activate it. Notably, the AI-generated audio overviews are said to be similar to the ones generated by the company's NotebookLM platform. 9to5Google reports that the experimental AI feature was rolled out to users on Wednesday. The tool can be accessed via the Google app for Android and iOS. Daily Listen's availability appears to be limited to a single country. Beta testers in the US can try out the feature, but it is unclear if the AI tool is currently available elsewhere. Several reports have confirmed the presence of the feature, but Gadgets 360 staff members were unable to see it on the app or Search Labs, despite being enrolled in the beta programme. It appears to be unavailable in India at the moment. Daily Listen appears underneath the search bar on the Google app for eligible users, according to the report. A screenshot of the feature shows it inside a coloured tile with rounded corners, which can be tapped to open a full-screen interface, with a Gemini sparkle icon. This indicates that the tool is powered by the tech giant's in-house AI model. The feature reportedly uses data from the users' Discover feed and search activity to understand the news topics they might be interested in. Then, it is said to create a daily summary of the top news stories from those topics and turn the text into a podcast. The entire process is said to not require the user to enter any prompt, and the process is handled by the AI automatically. Additionally, the full-text transcript of the podcast is visible on the screen and can be read along, based on the screenshot. Users are reportedly also shown related news articles that they can click on to gain more context behind the news. Notably, since it is an experimental feature, the AI might not be accurate in picking the right topics and news articles.

Your Google Discover Feed Will Soon Feature AI-Curated Podcasts

The feature is currently in an experimental state and available on Android and iOS in the US only. After the success of NotebookLM which lets you create AI-generated podcasts, Google has found a great use case for Audio Overviews. Google is now integrating "Daily Listen", a personalized AI podcast into your Google Discover feed. Basically, Daily Listen sits in the Discover feed and it generates a 5-minute AI podcast based on your news feed and interests on curated topics. It's like your personal daily digest, ready with all the top stories that interest you. Keep in mind that Daily Listen is currently in an experimental state and rolling out in the US only, on Android and iOS. You will find the "Made for you" label just below the search bar when you open the Google app or swipe to the right on your Android home screen to access Daily Listen. It opens a full-screen podcast player with transcription, and you can adjust the playback speed. Right below, you can check out related stories, while listening to your personalized AI podcast. To get access to Daily Listen, launch the Google app on Android or iOS, and tap on the "Search Labs" icon in the top-left corner. Here, enable "Daily Listen". While the integration into the Discover feed is interesting, Microsoft has been doing something similar with "Copilot Daily" in the Copilot app. It also generates daily audio briefings of the latest trends, news, and top stories for you.

Google's Daily Listen Experiment Turns Your Discover Feed Into AI Podcasts

If you're sick and tired of having to actually read breaking news and interesting articles on Google Search and Discover, you'll be pleased to learn that you may not need to anymore. Instead, you can just listen to a five-minute podcast distilling your feed down to its core. Google Launches AI Podcasts for a Daily Listen As first reported by 9to5Google, Google Labs' latest experiment is an AI podcast called Daily Listen. This personalized podcast featuring two AI hosts will distill the subjects of the day that you're interested in down to a short podcast. The idea will be familiar to anyone who has listened to NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature, which creates a podcast out of whatever sources of information you feed it. And this is essentially the same idea, but with your Search and Discover habits feeding the podcast. You'll need to opt in to the Daily Listen experiment by enabling it under Search Labs in the top-left corner of the Google app. It's available in the US from today on both Android and iOS. Once you have opted in, Daily Listen will appear in the carousel below the Search bar at the top of the Google app. Once clicked, the podcast will play, with a transcript helping you follow along. You'll also find links to the stories, allowing you to explore the topics discussed more deeply. Will We Still Need Real Podcasters in the Future? Google's AI podcasts are surprisingly good. And even if you can't access the Daily Listen experiment at the moment, you can get a taste of the technology by trying NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature. Which begs the question: Are we even going to need real podcasters in the future? And by "real," I mean living, breathing humans. Right now, the technology is impressive but nowhere near refined enough to cover different genres. Essentially, all these do at the moment is absorb information and then regurgitate it in the form of a podcast. Which means there's a lack of personality, and zero humor to speak of. However, artificial intelligence is improving all the time, and if some personality and the ability to riff on a subject is introduced at some point in the future, then Joe Rogan and his ilk may need to watch their backs.

Google Turns Your Activity History Into a Daily AI-Powered Podcast

Samantha Kelly is a freelance writer with a focus on consumer technology, AI, social media, Big Tech, emerging trends and how they impact our everyday lives. Her work has been featured on CNN, NBC, NPR, the BBC, Mashable and more. Google is turning your Discover and Search history into a personalized bite-sized podcast. The company said on Thursday it is experimenting with a feature called "Daily Listen" within the Google app that creates personalized, AI-generated audio summaries of news updates based on your current Search and Discover activity. (Yes, those are different. Google Search delivers relevant results based on your search queries, while Google Discover creates a personalized content feed based on your interests and activity.) New episodes, currently available only in English, will appear daily on your home screen within the app. The company said the tool will be available to a limited number of people in the US. Read more: Gemini 2.0 and Project Astra Make Google's AI Your Know-It-All Assistant The feature aims to offer users a quick and convenient way to stay informed about topics they care about most. It's also part of the company's greater push to use AI to reshape how users consume information and enhance personalization in search tools. This includes expanding Bard, Google's conversational AI chatbot, and NotebookLM, which is designed to help users quickly digest and organize large amounts of information. The results of each episode, which run about 5 minutes or less, are based on multiple sources that meet Google Search's content policies. Both the content and voices within the app are created with generative AI. The feature is part of its Search Labs unit, Google's experimental division that's focused on testing AI-powered tools and features within the Google app.