Google Notebook is making big changes to usage limits

Fans of Google Notebook’s AI-generated podcasts may have to settle for fewer of them once a new usage-tracking method goes into effect next week.

Starting September 2, Google Notebook will switch over to “compute-specific” usage limits that track the “complexity” of your Google Notebook prompts and requests.

Also coming with the “compute-specific” usage limits change are five-hour usage windows, along with weekly usage limits, according to a Google support page, replacing the current daily and monthly limits.

Up until now, Google Notebook users got flat daily limits on the number of chats, audio overviews (the famous AI-generated podcasts that Google Notebooks is best known for), and video overviews they could request, with each of those features (along with reports, flashcards, quizzes, and “mind maps,” among others) getting their own bucket of daily limits.

Under the current system, the number of Google Notebook requests you get per day varies depending on your Google AI plan, with free users getting (for example) 50 chats and three audio overviews per day, while Google AI Ultra users have a daily allowance of up to 5,000 chats and 200 audio overviews.

But once the new compute-based limits kick in, those flat limits will go away, and instead your overall Google Notebook usage will be calculated based on “the complexity of your prompt, the models and features you use, the length of your chat and specific features.”

Free Google AI users will get unspecified “standard” limits, while paid users will be allowed more usage depending on their subscription tier. If you exceed your five-hour usage allotment, you’ll have to wait until the next five-hour window opens, similar to usage limits for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

There will also be a weekly Google Notebook usage limit, which will replace the current monthly limit.

In a blog post announcing the changes, Google Notebook Product Manager Yesul Shin wrote that the new compute-based usage limits will give users “more control over your workflow,” adding that users will get warnings if they’re approaching their usage limits.

For example, users who see their Google Notebook levels limits are almost up could choose to “defer” creating podcast-like audio overviews or “cinematic” video overviews, Shin noted.

The impending Google Notebook change is yet another example of AI providers clamping down on usage limits for subscription users, particularly when it comes to agentic features that can quickly burn through AI tokens.

Back in April, GitHub Copilot was among the first AI services to switch to a usage-based plan, moving away from allowing a set number of AI requests regardless of their complexity.