Google DeepMind's PlanAssist moves into a 12-month beta with UK councils after pilots cut officer assessment time by up to 58%
A Gemini-based tool that drafts cited assessment reports for routine planning applications, with a qualified officer approving every decision.
// Key points
- Built with Gemini, together with the UK government, Google Cloud and Faculty; it validates documents and drawings, checks heritage constraints and planning policies, reviews past objections and drafts cited reports for officers to edit
- Early pilots in Barnet, Camden and Dorset cut officer assessment time by up to 58%, and more than 70% of generated reports were approved with no edits
- Twelve more councils join in three cohorts, for 15 in total; if testing succeeds, the government plans to offer it to all councils in England in 2027
Builder's takeThe pattern worth copying is AI drafts with citations, a person signs, and the metric is the share approved without edits. Our AI Interview product fits the same shape: the evaluation report should cite the exact answers it relies on, and I'd track the no-edit rate as the main quality number instead of a model score.
// Background · from #Google
Full timeline →- Oct 31 Gemini API's Computer Use tool is generally available across the Interactions and GenerateContent APIs, with Gemini 3.8 Flash as the recommended model
- Oct 29 Google DeepMind announces Gemini 4 Carbon: first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index at 59, going to cyber defenders first at $2/$10 per million tokens
- Oct 29 Google releases the Gemini API CLI in beta: a zero-dependency command-line client for coding agents, scripts and CI