Dropbox unveils AI push

Dropbox is furthering its commitment to shape the future of work with artificial intelligence (AI) via a US$50 M initiative, Dropbox Ventures. Dropbox Ventures will focus investments in the next generation of startups who are transforming work by applying AI in innovative ways.

The company said it will provide portfolio companies with financial resources, mentorship, and the potential to bring new experiences to the company’s over 700 million registered users.

Dropbox also published its AI Principles to serve as a guide for the company to develop AI products responsibly. In recognition of the deep responsibility that comes with applying new technology on behalf of customers, the company is renewing its commitment to protect customers’ privacy, act transparently, and limit bias in AI technologies so products are built as fairly and reliably as possible.

Dropbox Dash and Dropbox AI are new AI-powered product experiences designed to improve modern work and help customers get more out of their content. Dropbox Dash is a universal search tool that connects all tools, content, and apps in a single search bar; Dropbox AI applies generative AI to summarise and answer questions about content saved in Dropbox starting with file previews.

Said Drew Houston, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox: “The AI chatbots that have captured our imaginations are incredibly powerful but come with a major limitation: when you ask a question about yourself, your content, or your company, these chatbots can’t answer it because they aren’t connected to your information. Dropbox is filling that gap by building personalised AI. As a platform that over 700 million customers already trust to secure their most important information, we have a significant opportunity to improve our customers' working lives with personalized AI-powered product experiences.”

According to Dropbox, knowledge workers spend 8.8 hours a week just looking for files and content and 69% spend up to 60 minutes a day navigating between apps.

Dropbox Dash is AI-powered universal search that connects the tools, content, and apps customers use everyday in a single search bar. With connectors to major platforms like Google Workspace, Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce, and more, customers can find everything in one place, fast. Dash is powered by machine learning, so it learns, evolves, and improves with more use.

In addition to universal search, Dash delivers new features through the browser extension, including:

- Stacks: Smart collections for links that offer a quick way to save, organise, and retrieve URLs. In the same way files have folders and songs have playlists, Stacks provide an easily shareable, organisational layer for cloud content.

- Start Page: A single dashboard that lets customers access Dash universal search, view Stacks, get shortcuts to recent work, and start meetings, making it easier to navigate the day and get back to their most important work.

Coming soon, Dash will be able to pull from customers’ information and their company’s information to answer questions and surface relevant content using generative AI. Customers won’t need to sift through all their company’s internal links and pages to find the answers to their questions. They’ll be able to ask Dash and quickly get an answer.

Dropbox Dash is currently available in beta to select customers (English only).

Dropbox is additionally applying AI to file previews, one of the most highly-trafficked web surfaces, as part of a new offering called Dropbox AI so customers can save time by:

- Quickly understanding large documents or videos without parsing through the entire file. With the click of a button, customers can summarise content, like contracts and meeting recordings, into a concise explanation.

- Getting information without the hassle of manually searching through large files. Simply ask a question and get a response within seconds.

Details

Dropbox AI for file previews is currently in alpha.

Explore

Join the Dash waitlist at dropbox.com/dash.

View the complete AI Principles at experience.dropbox.com/en-us/ai-principles.