The First Googlebooks Are Here, and They’re Everything I Need in a Laptop

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 Summary

“Googlebooks are premium laptops running Googlebook OS, integrating Android, Gemini AI, and ChromeOS security. Starting at $899, five models include Google AI Pro and 10-year updates. Chromebooks coexist for education and enterprise use.

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And if you’re an Android user, they’re likely everything you need, too.

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Googlebooks Will Not Disappoint Android Fans

When it comes to my daily devices, I live in two worlds. For work, I use a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. My personal devices, on the other hand, are a Chromebook and a Pixel phone. Now that I’ve used a Googlebook and seen what it can do, I’ll likely swap out my Chromebook for one. That’s because, much like the MacBook and iPhone work well together, the integration between an Android phone and a Googlebook is absolutely fantastic.

What is a Googlebook?

Essentially, a Googlebook is a premium laptop running on Googlebook OS, which brings together Android, Gemini AI and the desktop functionality and robust security of ChromeOS. While Google Chromebooks and ChromeOS were made for life on the web, Googlebooks are about how we work today. They’ll let you seamlessly move between your phone and your laptop, while also giving you access to powerful AI-based tools. You’ll also have full access to the Google Play Store, including apps and games developed for mobile and desktop use. 

When Google announced Googlebooks back in May, it didn’t say much about the actual devices. Mainly, just that they’d be premium laptops — a departure from Chromebooks’ budget-friendly identity. Check out the video below for a better look at the features of Googlebook OS and the laptops. Specs for the first five Googlebooks are also below.

Google

You can order the Googlebooks now, or you can wait until Oct. 4 when they arrive in stores in the US (Oct. 5 for Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Australia). Prices start at $899, but these are premium devices, so you’ll find things like high-quality materials, haptic touchpads, backlit keyboards, OLED touchscreens and  Intel Panther Lake and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors. 

Every purchase also includes 12 months of Google AI Pro, which normally costs $200 and comes with 5TB of cloud storage and Gemini Advanced tools. You’ll also get three months each of YouTube Premium and Adobe Photoshop, plus one year of Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. And, like current Chromebooks, Googlebooks will get new features and OS updates for 10 years. 

Dell XPS Googlebook

Josh Goldman/CNET

The smallest of the Googlebooks, the XPS has the same high-end look and feel as the XPS 13 Windows laptop, which is awesome. It’s a great design with a full aluminum body that weighs 2.2 pounds. However, unlike the Windows version, it starts at $1,199, not $799. The Dell XPS Googlebook is currently $999 at Best Buy. 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
• 16 or 32GB of memory
• 512GB of storage 
• 13.4-inch 2.5K-resolution touchscreen, 500-nit brightness
• Fingerprint reader

Lenovo Googlebook 15

Josh Goldman/CNET

With a beautiful 15.3-inch OLED touchscreen, the Lenovo is the largest of the launch Googlebooks. Made from magnesium-alloy and carbon fiber, it not only looked and felt good, but it was incredibly light for its size at 2.8 pounds. Pricing starts at $1,299, but the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is currently $1,099 at Best Buy. 

• Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 3 (Panther Lake)
• 16GB of memory
• 256GB of storage
• 15.3-inch 2.8K-resolution OLED touchscreen
• Dolby Atmos 
• Haptic touchpad 
• Facial and fingerprint recognition

Acer Googlebook 14

Josh Goldman/CNET

The lone two-in-one in the group, it looks like a sleeker, slimmer version of the company’s Chromebook Plus 714. It’s also the only $899 model, though like the others, this is a limited-time offer at Best Buy. Made from magnesium and aluminum, it weighs only 2.5 pounds. 

• Intel Core Ultra 5/7 Series 3 (Panther Lake) 
• 16 GB of memory
• 256GB of storage
• 14-inch 2.8K-resolution OLED touchscreen
• USI 2.0 pen support 
• Fingerprint sensor

HP Googlebook 14 

Josh Goldman/CNET

Starting at $1,299, the 14-inch laptop has an all-aluminum build and weighs in at 2.7 pounds. It’s certainly nice-looking, with a sturdy build, similar to the HP OmniBook Ultra 14 — one of our favorite premium Windows laptops. 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite 
• 16 or 32GB of memory
• 256GB of storage
• 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen
• Haptic touchpad 
• Fingerprint sensor and Face authentication

Asus Googlebook 14

Josh Goldman/CNET

Asus’ Googlebook appears to follow the design path of the company’s ExpertBook Ultra, a $3,600 business laptop. It’s a beautiful laptop with a body made from aluminum and magnesium with a ceramic finish that feels incredible and weighs just 2.2 pounds. Like the Lenovo and HP, it starts at $1,299. 

• Intel Core Ultra 5/7 (Panther Lake) 
• 16 or 32GB of memory
• 256GB of storage 
• 14-inch 2.8K OLED touch display
• Haptic touchpad 
• Fingerprint sensor

Are Chromebooks dead now?

The short answer is no, Chromebooks are not dead. For the moment, they’ll coexist with Googlebooks because they serve different users. New Chromebooks currently have 10 years of software support, and that’s not going away. Plus, you’ve got millions and millions of students using them daily, not to mention enterprise users. Given that Googlebooks are premium devices, it’s unlikely they’ll replace Chromebooks for education or commercial use anytime soon. 

I’d expect ChromeOS development to slow somewhat over time, with at least some higher-end Chromebook Plus models eventually transitioning to the new operating system.

Joshua Goldman

Managing Editor

Josh Goldman is managing editor for CNET's computers, home entertainment and streaming coverage.“

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A.I. Gone Rogue? Trump Proposes Not New Rules but an ‘A.I. Force.’ - The New York Times

A.I. Gone Rogue? Trump Proposes Not New Rules but an ‘A.I. Force.’

"The president proposed a follow-up to his Space Force but continued to dismiss worries about A.I.’s pace or potential for harm.

Sept. 19, 2026

President Trump at the White House on Friday.Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

President Trump is so enamored of the Space Force, a military command he created in his first term, that he keeps its flag by his desk in the Oval Office. He took personal interest in the design of its uniforms, which bear close resemblance to those of Galactic Empire officers in “Star Wars.”

On Saturday, Mr. Trump proposed a follow-on to Space Force: a new “A.I. Force.” But he left to earthbound speculation what, exactly, it was supposed to do.

Mr. Trump cast his announcement — along with his promise to appoint a new A.I. “Czar” for the White House — as an effort to boost the A.I. industry, saying “we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it.”

In the roiling debate in Washington over regulating frontier A.I. models and the companies that produce them, or slowing down development until the mystery is solved about the summer in which A.I. agents went rogue, Mr. Trump continues to side with the “accelerationists,” who call for the government to stay out of the way.

Mr. Trump, in his social media post, compared warnings about A.I. with warnings about global warming and conspiracies that he said were created by “Radical Left Democrats,” ignoring concerns about A.I. shared by many Republicans.

Mr. Trump did not make clear whether he envisioned the new A.I. Force as a military command or a civilian agency or department. White House officials did not respond to an email seeking clarification.

And at a moment when the battle is on in Washington over the prospect of federal oversight of frontier models and Chinese-developed open source alternatives, he did not explain how the A.I. Force would fit in as private sector rivals race for even more powerful A.I. models.

Mr. Trump’s posting was cheered by his last A.I. czar, the venture capitalist David Sacks.

“President Trump understands the media hoax cycle better than anyone else,” he wrote on X. “That is why he is refusing the ‘pause’ that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are demanding. A pause would not make America safer. It would hand the frontier to China.”

This is not the first time that Mr. Trump has called for the creation of new institutions to take on a technological challenge.

In his first term, after a meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, he declared that the two men would create a joint cyberspace force to fight cybercrime. His national security aides said they were mystified about why the United States would join forces with a primary rival for power in the cyber arena. The idea was quietly dropped.

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In this case, there are already institutions aimed at overseeing artificial intelligence issues.

United States Cyber Command is actively experimenting with frontier models, including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos, to find vulnerabilities in adversary computer networks, making them more ripe for attack. It is also trying to help patch previously undiscovered vulnerabilities in critical U.S. infrastructure systems.

That is also the task of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security. But its personnel has been gutted since Mr. Trump came to office, in part because of the agency’s role in declaring that the 2020 presidential election was among the best-run in modern times. It challenged his arguments that the vote had been rigged.

On Friday, former President Barack Obama for the first time publicly criticized Mr. Trump over his approach to A.I., saying that the president was setting the country back at an important moment, warning that the technology could “deeply affect our health and our safety.”

“There’s no replacement for an effective, government regulatory structure,” Mr. Obama said at an event at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. “And the challenge we have is that, obviously, we have a president currently that has said that’s for losers.”

The United States, he added, is facing “a gap, at least of a couple of years” while Mr. Trump is in office, because of a federal government “that is not capable of or willing to — I would argue both — of putting together a serious regulatory framework.”

Last week, Mr. Obama urged Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top House Democrat, to develop a clear agenda for the party on A.I. But on Friday, Mr. Obama also turned his focus to voters.

“I would encourage voters to pay attention to this,” Mr. Obama said at Colgate. “If somebody does not have a serious plan for how to deal with this, then they’re not meeting the moment, and you should probably look for somebody else.”

Neither party has united around a defined position on A.I. regulation, and neither has claimed a clear advantage with voters on the issue, according to polls.

David E. Sanger covers the Trump administration and a range of national security issues. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written four books on foreign policy and national security challenges."

A.I. Gone Rogue? Trump Proposes Not New Rules but an ‘A.I. Force.’ - The New York Times