Dropbox unveils two AI-based products, launches $50M AI venture fund

Dropbox is introducing two new AI-powered products to its platform, designed to improve how users search for information and tools, and also summarize information contained in their Dropbox files.

The two products are Dropbox Dash and Dropbox AI, both of which the company believes will help to accelerate its mission to support more enlightened and personalized ways of working.

“As more companies have transitioned to remote and hybrid work, we found that there’s no longer one single organized place where people feel productive and in control of their content,” said Sateesh Kumar Srinivasan, vice president and general manager of AI at Dropbox. “Data shows that we spend around 8.8 hours a week just searching for and collecting work. Dash and Dropbox AI provides a way for users to be more efficient with their work day, allowing them to spend more time on work that matters, instead of doing ‘work about work'.” 

Dropbox Dash is a new AI-powered universal search tool designed to connect tools, content and apps into a single search bar to eliminate the time wasted spent toggling between apps when users are looking for content.

Dropbox Dash integrates with platforms such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Outlook and Salesforce, and includes so-called Stacks, smart collections for links that offer users the ability to save, organize, and retrieve URLs, in a way that mimics saving files into folders.

A feature dubbed Start Page works as a single dashboard, letting users access universal search, view Stacks, and get shortcuts to start meetings and open recent work.  

Dropbox has said that in the future, Dash will use generative AI to answer questions and surface relevant content, such as links to important employee pages or information about holiday allowance, for example.

Dropbox Dash is currently available in English to select customers in beta. The company did not immediately say whether they would charge users separately for the application.

Introducing Dropbox AI

The second product being launched by Dropbox is Dropbox AI, a new tool that offers summarization capabilities to provide users with an overview of large documents, videos, contracts, and meeting recordings.

AI-powered summarization has been one of the most popular AI capabilities launched by vendors in the productivity space in the last six months, with Asana, Atlassian, Box, Cisco, Slack, and Zoom, to name a few, all providing a similar offering to their users.

Users will also be able to ask Dropbox AI a question about a specific piece of content and receive a response in real-time. The company said it has plans to roll out these capabilities for use on users’ folders and entire Dropbox accounts in the future.

Dropbox AI for file previews is currently in alpha, and as of today will be available in the US to all Dropbox Pro customers before it starts rolling out to select Dropbox Teams to test.

“This is just the beginning of how Dropbox will use AI/ML to enhance work in today’s work environment,” Srinivasan said. “Over the next 12 months, we will be looking into how we can make our existing user experience even more seamless for our customers, while bringing more intelligence into their content and workflows.”

In addition to launching a host of new AI-powered tools, Dropbox has also announced a new $50 million venture initiative designed to support fledgling startups working on AI. Those eligible for Dropbox Ventures will receive financial support and mentorship to build new AI-powered products that will shape the future of work.

Committing to trust with AI principles

In addition to the launch of the two new AI-powered products, Dropbox has also outlined the principles that are guiding the company’s approach to the development of future AI capabilities.

In a blog post outlining the six principles, Dropbox states that it recognizes “the deep responsibility that comes with applying new technology on behalf of our customers,” noting that its product hosts all kinds of deeply personal and legally sensitive documents.

“To “be worthy of trust” has long been at the center of everything we do at Dropbox… Our AI principles have been developed with this standard in mind,” the blog post read.

Included in the principles are commitments for Dropbox to leverage AI to deliver better experiences for its users, while keeping customers in control of their data and ensuring the company remains accountable when it comes to the development and roll out of future AI capabilities.

Additionally, Dropbox said it will be transparent about how it is using AI within its products and will work to champion fairness in AI technology and respect the safety and rights of its customers.