Google just released an experimental note-taking app that does something surprisingly rare in the AI meeting-tool space: it runs entirely on your device. According to The Verge, Google AI Edge Foresight is a free macOS app that transcribes meetings and audio files offline, using the company’s on-device EmbeddingGemma 2 model. No cloud round-trip, no data leaving your computer.
Offline-first, but not barebones
The app is designed around a split-screen workflow similar to Granola and Wispr Flow. You jot down shorthand bullet points while you’re in a meeting, and Foresight turns those rough notes into polished, coherent summaries based on the full transcript. That alone is useful, but Google adds two more layers:
- A built-in assistant that can answer questions about what was said in the meeting.
- The ability to connect local files directly to the app, so the assistant can reference those documents when responding.
Google is clear that your files, meeting audio, and notes “never leave your computer.” That’s a strong privacy claim, especially for an AI tool from a company that usually pushes cloud services.
How Foresight fits among AI note-takers
Most AI meeting assistants still rely on cloud processing, even if they claim local transcription later. Google AI Edge Foresight stands out because the entire pipeline — transcription, summarization, and question answering — happens on-device. That makes it a compelling option for journalists, lawyers, therapists, or anyone handling sensitive conversations.
Here’s a quick comparison of the apps The Verge mentions:
- Granola — great for meeting summaries from shorthand, but cloud-dependent.
- Wispr Flow — strong dictation and transcription, also cloud-based.
- Google AI Edge Foresight — fully offline, on-device, with local file referencing.
Google is currently optimizing Foresight only for Macs with Apple Silicon. That’s a practical limitation, but it’s also a sign of where local AI is heading: high-performance neural processing without a data center.
A privacy-focused experiment with limits
For now, Foresight is experimental and free. It’s not integrated into Google Workspace, and it doesn’t sync with Google Meet or Drive. Instead, it’s a standalone macOS app that treats local privacy as the default. That’s a notable philosophical shift for Google, and it aligns with the broader industry move toward smaller, on-device models that can handle real tasks.
The question is whether an experimental app like Foresight will evolve into a full product or remain a tech demo. Either way, it proves that capable meeting transcription and summarization no longer require a constant internet connection — and that’s a milestone worth paying attention to.