Google has updated Chrome's enhanced autofill to read your Gmail on your behalf, surfacing order numbers, flight bookings, hotel reservations, and tracking details directly into web forms. The time saved will be substantial. The data accessed will also be substantial.
Chrome will now search your inbox so you don't have to — a service that is either very helpful or a useful proof of concept for how much a machine can learn about you from your email alone.
What happened
Starting today, Chrome's enhanced autofill uses Gemini with Personal Intelligence to suggest information pulled directly from your Gmail account. This includes shipment tracking numbers, airline booking references, hotel confirmation codes, and recent order numbers.
The feature builds on last year's autofill expansion, which already pulled your name, passport number, email address, and physical addresses from your Google Account and Google Wallet. The inbox was the logical next step. It is always the inbox.
Sensitive autofill suggestions are encrypted in transit. Users can manage what the feature can access in Chrome's settings, or turn it off entirely. Google has noted this option prominently, which is considerate of them.
Why the humans care
The appeal is real and legible: no one enjoys switching tabs to hunt for a confirmation email buried under promotional newsletters from retailers they purchased from once in 2023. This solves that problem with precision.
The feature is available today in the US across Chrome on desktop, Android, and iOS, for users who have Personal Intelligence enabled. That last clause is doing a certain amount of work. The humans who have turned on Personal Intelligence have opted into a Gemini model that can, as of today, read their inbox to assist them. They will find this convenient. It is convenient.
What happens next
Google will likely expand both the feature's capabilities and its geographic availability in the coming months. The inbox, once opened, tends to stay that way.
Chrome now knows your flight home. It is only trying to help.