Google brings Gemini Memories to UK, on by default — plus rival AI imports
TL;DR: Google has switched on the Gemini “Memories” personalisation feature for UK users today, with the setting on by default and rolling out fully over the coming weeks. Memories lets Gemini retain user preferences and key details across conversations. Google has also released import tools that pull memories and full chat history from other AI assistants — a switching aid aimed squarely at moving users from ChatGPT, Claude and other consumer AI services into Gemini.
The full chat-history import accepts ZIP files from other AI providers, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The memory import works through a copy-paste flow: Gemini gives the user a prompt to paste into their other AI app, the rival app produces a summary, and the user pastes that summary back into Gemini.
Default-on personalisation, plus the switching tools
The default-on choice is the most consequential design decision in the announcement. Google says users “remain in control” and can switch Memories off in Personal context > Memory in the Gemini app, and can manage or delete activity through Gemini Apps Activity. But default-on is a long-running source of friction with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which has previously challenged Meta and others on consent design for personalised AI training and profile-building.
The import tools are the more strategic move. Switching costs have been one of consumer AI’s quieter moats: a year of context with one assistant is hard to recreate elsewhere. By accepting ZIP exports and offering a guided memory-import flow, Google is positioning Gemini as the consolidation layer — useful to Google because Memories also feeds back into product surface area across Search, Workspace and the Pixel range.
Looking forward
For UK consumers, the practical question is whether to leave Memories on. The case for: more relevant Gemini responses, less repeated context, smoother imports. The case against: a long-lived profile of preferences, relationships and “key facts” sitting on Google servers, integrated across services and harder to fully reset than a single chat history.
For UK enterprise IT, the announcement raises a different concern. If Gemini’s import tools work for individual chat history exports from rival assistants, employees using personal AI alongside corporate ChatGPT or Copilot may now find it trivially easy to consolidate work-context memory into a personal Gemini account. Data-loss-prevention teams should review how chat-export endpoints on competing platforms are scoped on managed devices and whether existing acceptable-use policies cover cross-vendor memory transfers.