A Look Back at the Early Origins of NotebookLM
stevenbjohnson · x · 2026-07-17
The author reflects on joining Google Labs in 2022: the team was newly formed, the office was quiet, and the product was a very early AI-first "tool for thought" prototype codenamed Tailwind.
The article then covers how the project transitioned from prototype to final name. Brand consultants suggested concepts that were too abstract and didn't fit Google's classic naming style. The author leaned toward Notebook because it perfectly captured the product vision of "recording, organizing, thinking, and forming new connections." However, with the project still in its infancy and zero users, the team had to strike a balance between a formal Google-style name and the reality of an early-stage experiment.
Ultimately, this retrospective offers valuable internal context on NotebookLM's journey from concept and prototype to its final naming.
Related event: Writer Recalls the Origins of Google NotebookLM(3 posts)→
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