Google has introduced the individual subscription option for NotebookLM Plus, its premium AI-driven note-taking and research assistant, to users enrolled in the Google One AI Premium plan. This rollout comes nearly two months after the service was initially launched for business clients on Google Cloud and Google Workspace.

Initially revealed in December following a successful pilot phase, NotebookLM Plus provides enhanced usage capabilities and exclusive features. Users can enjoy five times the usage limits compared to the free version, which includes 500 notebooks, 300 sources per notebook, a maximum of 500 queries for chat interactions, and the ability to generate 20 audio segments daily.

With the Google One AI Premium subscription priced at $20 a month, individual users can now take advantage of all these advanced functionalities. Furthermore, Google has introduced a special offer: U.S. students aged 18 and over can access the premium plan for just $9.99 per month, a 50% discount.

“We have always aimed to make NotebookLM Plus available to both businesses and individual users, and we’ve seen significant interest from consumers, especially students, since the beginning,” stated Kelly Schaefer, product director and domain lead at Google Labs, during an interview.

Launched in 2023, NotebookLM gained significant attention after introducing its Audio Overviews feature in September 2023. This capability allows users to create podcast-style audio conversations based on uploaded content, prompting competitors like ElevenLabs and Meta to follow suit.

To maintain relevance, Google has rolled out regular updates, including the feature to steer AI-generated audio discussions.

Schaefer mentioned to TechCrunch that future enhancements to the Audio Overviews will include support for languages other than English.

“We are currently evaluating how to prioritize which languages to add, ensuring that they are just as authentic and seamless as our existing Audio Overviews,” she remarked.

While Schaefer did not elaborate on the particular Gemini AI models used for NotebookLM, she indicated that both Plus and standard users share the same foundational model. The team at Google Labs continuously experiments with various iterations of Gemini, always utilizing the most advanced models tailored for specific tasks.

In addition, the team is actively working on a dedicated mobile application for NotebookLM, although a release date has not yet been provided.

“We aim to ensure that the mobile experience closely resembles the desktop interface while customizing it for the most popular mobile use cases,” Schaefer explained.

Google is also investigating how NotebookLM can incorporate the advancements in reasoning models to enhance cognitive tasks and experiences.

As NotebookLM Plus becomes available to individual subscribers under the Google One AI Premium plan—which also includes access to Gemini Advanced, integration with Gmail, Google Docs, and 2TB of cloud storage—Schaefer assured that they will continue to improve the experience for non-paying users as well.

“We want every user of NotebookLM, regardless of their subscription status, to enjoy a top-notch experience. It’s vital to us that the free version of NotebookLM excels. Therefore, we aim to provide even more benefits for Plus users without diminishing the experience for free users,” she emphasized.

Google has not publicly disclosed the total number of NotebookLM users or the size of its development team, only indicating that both metrics have experienced growth.

Recent data from market analytics company Similarweb reveal that NotebookLM has attracted 28.18 million visits in the past three months, with nearly 9 million visits occurring in January alone.

TechCrunch offers an AI-focused newsletter! Subscribe here to receive it every Wednesday.