Google brings narrated video summaries to AI-powered NotebookLM: What's new

NotebookLM lets users generate narrated video summaries with slides, diagrams, quotes, and visuals to better explain documents and complex ideas

NotebookLM, Google’s AI assistant for organising and understanding documents, is getting a major new feature called Video Overviews. According to the Google blog post, the new feature turns text documents into AI-generated video summaries with slides. These summaries are narrated and include visuals pulled directly from your content, such as diagrams, numbers, and quotes. The goal is to make information easier to understand, especially when it is complex.

 

As promised at Google I/O 2025, this feature is now rolling out to all users who use NotebookLM in English.

 

NotebookLM’s Video Overview feature: Details

According to Google, Video Overviews allow users to turn their notes and documents into short, narrated videos. These videos use slides with diagrams, quotes, numbers, and images taken directly from the content that the user has uploaded. This makes it uniquely effective for explaining data, demonstrating processes, and making abstract concepts more tangible. We'll introduce additional formats as Video Overviews develop further,” the blog stated.

 

 

Video Overviews can be tailored to meet specific requirements, similar to the customisation available in Audio Overviews. Users can define topics of interest, specify learning objectives, and identify the target audience. The system accepts both general and advanced prompts. For example, you might say, “I’m a beginner, help me understand this analysis,” or “Focus on the technical aspects of the methodology section for my research team.” 

Other enhancements: What’s new  Studio redesign

Video Overviews are part of the Studio tools in NotebookLM. These tools already include Audio Overviews, Mind Maps, FAQs, Timelines, and more. Google is also redesigning the Studio section to show these options in a colourful grid. Another improvement is that users can now create and store multiple outputs of the same type in one notebook. 

 

According to the blog, this is useful in different situations. For example, you can:

 

Make audio or video summaries in different languages to share publicly.

Create versions for different team roles in a shared notebook.

Make chapter-wise videos to study for exams.

Homepage redesign

Everything you generate will appear in a new activity feed below the Studio tools. You can now multitask like listening to an Audio Overview while viewing a Mind Map. This update follows a recent homepage redesign that added “Featured notebooks,” showing Google’s plan to make NotebookLM more powerful and user-friendly for learners, teams, and creators.