According to XDA-Developers, Google has officially added its NotebookLM AI tool to the company’s $249.99-per-month AI Ultra subscription tier, a plan first announced at Google I/O 2025. The integration, announced via an X post and detailed in a support article, grants Ultra subscribers the “highest access” to Gemini’s latest models. Key benefits include a massive jump to 5,000 daily chats, 600 sources per notebook, and the generation of 1,000 daily Reports, Flashcards, and Quizzes. Crucially, Ultra users can now remove the NotebookLM watermark from AI-generated Slide Decks and Infographics. This rollout is happening now, positioning the Ultra tier as a serious tool for professionals and extremely high-volume users.
The real value proposition
Here’s the thing: higher limits are one thing, but the watermark removal is the game-changer. Before this, even if you paid for Pro, your outputs were still branded. That’s fine for personal use, but a non-starter for any professional client work or public-facing material. Suddenly, that $250 fee isn’t just about compute—it’s about commercial licensing. You’re paying for the right to present AI-generated slides and graphics as your own clean work. That’s a fundamentally different value proposition. And when you combine it with the ability to run 200 Deep Research sessions or generate 200 Video Overviews per day, you’re looking at a tool for someone who uses AI as a core part of their daily workflow, not just an occasional helper.
A niche within a niche
So who is this for, really? Let’s be honest, it’s a tiny slice of the market. But that’s probably the point. Google isn’t trying to convert free users to Ultra. They’re segmenting the market aggressively: free for dabblers, Plus for enthusiasts, Pro for serious individual users, and Ultra for the absolute power users and small teams who treat NotebookLM like a mission-critical platform. Think researchers, analysts, content agencies, or educators building massive curricula. The pricing effectively says, “If you’re constantly hitting the 50-chat daily free limit, you’re not even in the same universe as our target Ultra customer.” It’s a bold move that clearly defines the product’s enterprise ambitions.
The competitive landscape
This throws down a gauntlet in the specialized AI workspace category. Tools like Mem.ai, Notion AI, or even ChatGPT with advanced data analysis are competing for the same “second brain” user. Google’s bet is that deep, source-grounded AI for long-form research and content creation is a unique enough niche to command a premium. By bundling NotebookLM with “the best of Google AI” across Gemini, Flow, and Whisk, they’re also creating a sticky ecosystem. Once you’re paying $250 a month for this suite, switching costs become enormous. The risk, of course, is that the price is so high it prevents wider adoption and feedback, potentially stifling the tool’s evolution. But maybe Google’s okay with that if the margins on this niche are good enough.
Is it actually worth it?
I’ll be skeptical until I see it in action. $3,000 a year is a serious software budget. For that price, you could hire a part-time virtual assistant or subscribe to a dozen other specialized SaaS tools. The justification only works if NotebookLM Ultra genuinely replaces other services and saves you significant time *and* delivers professional-grade, client-ready output. The watermark removal is the first feature that directly enables that latter part. For the vast majority, it’s an absurd price. But for a specific few—maybe consultants, litigation teams, or market research firms—the ability to instantly turn thousands of source documents into branded presentations might just be a bargain. Google’s finally giving them a reason to even consider it.
