Yahoo is bringing new AI features to Yahoo Mail, just the latest tech company to dive into the AI craze sweeping the industry in 2024. The new features and capabilities are meant to simplify email and task management, as spotted by The Verge.
The update adds AI-generated email summaries, quick buttons and email linking.
"Email is a crucial tool for daily life, but even our most engaged users can get overwhelmed by their inbox." General Manager, Yahoo Mail Rob Gelick said in a statement. "To help solve that, we are taking our first steps towards enhancing the personal email experience with a sleeker design and new AI capabilities to make it easier for the one in three Americans who use Yahoo Mail every month to get things done."
The summaries are brief, bulleted lists that highlight tasks and other proposed actions. As part of the summaries update a new "Priority" inbox tab is being added. The Priority tab utilizes AI to highlight what Yahoo and the AI think are your most urgent messages.
A lot of this sounds very similar to Google's recently announced AI Gmail features. Google's AI features are currently locked behind paywalls for either Workspace or Google One AI Premium users. Apple also touted AI features for its Mail app in iOS 18.
The Quick action buttons are tappable buttons that appear inside the inbox that allows users to quickly add an event to a calendar, track packages or check in for flights.
When looking at emails, the new button shows up as part of the email line.
The last feature being added is the ability to link the inbox with other email accounts, including Outlook, Gmail and AOL. Users can send and receive emails for any connected account within Yahoo Mail.
New users will be able to access the AI features right away. Existing Yahoo Mail users will see a roll-out of the features and can opt-in to using them starting today.
We may have been a tad hyperbolic above, but this isn't Yahoo's first foray into AI with Yahoo Mail. Last August, the company introduced the AI-enabled "Shopping Saver" tool to the Mail app. That feature keeps track of unused gift cards, vouchers and store credit in email inboxes and reminds users that they exist. That update also introduced a writing assistant that can draft replies to emails.
