Google’s ongoing work on NotebookLM appears to be expanding its audio capabilities, with a new feature in development that would let users customize the length of audio overviews. This setting, found in a “Customize Audio Overview” window, includes options for shorter, default, and longer durations. Considering the current audio output averages around 10 minutes, the longer setting could extend the content into podcast-like formats. This caters to professionals, students, or content creators who rely on rich summaries from multiple sources and want a more in-depth spoken digest of their research.
These audio overviews are likely generated in the context of the user’s notebook workspace, drawing from uploaded files, user inputs, and AI-generated notes. The ability to vary duration means users could adapt the tool for different listening contexts — a quick recap on the go or a deeper dive during focused time blocks.
This feature follows Google’s broader goal of turning NotebookLM into a personal AI research assistant. While the platform still resembles a niche product aimed at writers, researchers, and students, it has recently shown signs of trying to blur the lines between text-based summarization and voice content delivery. These changes could help broaden its appeal beyond academia.
In parallel, smaller tweaks have been noticed, like a new search toggle in the chat interface — possibly enabling inline web searches — and visual refinements to the Studio tab on the left panel. While these UI updates are minor, they suggest a continued iteration toward a more integrated workspace. There’s no confirmed launch window for the audio update, and while Google previously teased features like MCP (multi-context prompt) support, none of those have surfaced yet in the current test builds.
