Google Launches Granola-Like Offline AI Notes and Transcription App

Google has released AI Edge Foresight, a new Mac app designed to capture, organize and summarize meeting notes using local AI models.

The app is positioned as a competitor to AI note-taking tools such as Granola, but with one major difference: it can work completely offline.

Runs Fully On-Device

Google AI Edge Foresight uses the EmbeddingGemma 2 model with 740 million parameters to process information locally.

Google says the app is optimized for Apple Silicon and can operate without an internet connection, making it useful while traveling or working in places with limited connectivity.

The tool can capture meeting notes across different apps and can also be used for in-person meetings.

Similar to Granola

The interface uses a split-screen layout similar to Granola. Users can write short manual notes on one side while viewing AI-generated notes on the other.

The app also transcribes meetings while users continue taking their own notes.

Users can switch to the full transcript when needed or chat with an assistant powered by Gemma 4 to ask questions about the meeting.

Builds a Personal Knowledge Base

Foresight can also ingest external documents and turn them into a searchable knowledge base.

Supported content includes:

• PDFs
• Google Docs
• Microsoft Office files
• Plain-text files
• Markdown
• Web bookmarks

The app can combine this information with meeting notes and answer questions in real time when relevant topics come up during a discussion.

For example, if someone mentions a figure or topic that already exists in the uploaded knowledge base, Foresight can retrieve the related information during the meeting.

Google Is Testing More Local AI Apps

The release follows an experimental AI dictation app Google introduced in April that also relied on local models.

That earlier project remained relatively experimental, and Foresight may similarly serve as a demonstration of what Google’s Gemma models can do directly on consumer hardware.

However, the technology could eventually find its way into broader Google products, potentially through Gemini and video-calling apps using cloud-based models.

AI Meeting Note-Takers Are Getting Crowded

The AI meeting assistant market has become increasingly competitive.

Companies including Wispr and Calendly have recently introduced their own meeting note-taking tools.

Superhuman, formerly Grammarly, also acquired Fathom, another AI meeting assistant, last month.

Google’s approach stands out mainly because Foresight is designed around offline, on-device AI, reducing reliance on cloud processing for transcription, retrieval and meeting analysis.