Zoom has announced a major update at its annual Zoomtopia conference, unveiling a new set of AI-driven tools designed to strengthen its position against specialist meeting apps and productivity platforms. The update introduces a cross-application AI notetaker, photorealistic avatars, and smarter scheduling features, alongside several improvements to its collaboration suite.
AI notetaking beyond Zoom
For years, Zoom has offered an AI bot to record and transcribe meetings. However, the market has been crowded with cross-application notetakers such as Otter, Fireflies, Read AI, Granola and Circleback. To stay competitive, Zoom is extending its AI companion to work not just within Zoom meetings but also across Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. The feature even supports in-person meetings, ensuring notes can be captured regardless of where the discussion takes place.
In a nod to Granola’s approach, Zoom now allows participants to type quick notes during a meeting. These can later be expanded and organised by AI into structured summaries, making it easier to capture context without distraction. Users will also benefit from cross-platform search, which retrieves information across Microsoft and Google’s ecosystems.
Smarter scheduling and time management
Calendar integration is another area receiving an AI boost. Zoom’s AI companion will help find suitable meeting slots for all participants and can even suggest which meetings a user may skip through a “free up my time” option. While tools such as Clockwise already offer similar functionality, Zoom’s integration within its own platform could prove appealing to users seeking fewer external apps.
The AI assistant is also gaining proactive features, including suggesting tasks, proposing agenda items before meetings, and offering support for group planning. These additions position Zoom as more than just a video conferencing tool, aiming to act as a productivity layer across different workflows.
Photorealistic avatars are another highlight of the update. These avatars mimic user actions on video, providing an alternative for times when participants are not camera-ready. Zoom had hinted at this earlier in the year when CEO Eric Yuan used his avatar during a quarterly earnings call. While the feature could improve engagement, concerns about misuse and deepfakes may prompt IT teams to restrict its use.
The avatars will be available to consumers before the end of the year and will also be integrated with Zoom Clips, the company’s asynchronous video tool. Hosts can use avatars to greet attendees in waiting rooms or explain the purpose of a meeting.
Beyond avatars, Zoom is improving video performance with higher bit rate and 60fps support, as well as introducing a video management tool for handling video assets.
More AI features on the way
The update further enhances Zoom’s web interface, highlighting the AI companion more prominently. New additions include a writing assistant for emails and documents, real-time translation tools, and a deep research feature. Zoom is also opening up its ecosystem to custom AI agents with support for Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Taken together, these updates demonstrate Zoom’s ambition to evolve beyond video calls into a comprehensive AI-powered collaboration suite. By blending smarter scheduling, advanced notetaking and expressive avatars, the platform is positioning itself to compete with both traditional productivity giants and new-age AI startups.
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