Game-changing technology lets users find videos, images, and files instantly using natural language—ending the era of endless folder hunting
October 24, 2025 — In a bold move to revolutionize workplace productivity, Dropbox has acquired AI startup Mobius Labs GmbH and unveiled powerful new search features that allow users to find specific moments in videos, audio files, and images using natural language. This marks the company’s most significant innovation since launching its cloud storage platform over a decade ago.
The Workplace Productivity Crisis
Knowledge workers face a staggering productivity drain. Studies reveal that 95% of AI tools don’t get past the pilot stage because they lack context across the various apps workers use daily. The average employee toggles between dozens of applications, wasting hours searching for files, messages, and information buried in digital silos.
Dropbox is solving this fundamental problem with its enhanced Dash platform, transforming how teams find and organize work content across their entire digital ecosystem.
Search Like You Think
The new AI-powered capabilities allow users to describe what they’re looking for using everyday language—whether it’s a PDF, photo, video, or audio file. Gone are the days of remembering exact file names, folder locations, or cryptic naming conventions.
Simply type queries like “client feedback from the product demo video,” “scanned contracts from the Atlanta meeting,” or “photos from our Spring campaign shoot in New York,” and Dash delivers precise results in seconds. The system understands context, intent, and relationships between files—just like asking a knowledgeable colleague.
Mobius Labs: The Technology Behind the Magic
Mobius Labs developed a series of multimodal AI models called Aana that enable users to find specific moments in videos with natural language prompts. For example, developers can ask Aana to jump directly to the part of a tutorial video explaining how to configure a specific server, while marketers can locate exact scenes showing product features across hours of footage.
The breakthrough innovation lies in efficiency. Aana’s ultra-efficient architecture can analyze exabytes of information with just a fraction of the compute footprint required by traditional systems, making enterprise-scale multimodal search economically viable for the first time.
The technology goes beyond basic search—it analyzes and interprets complex scenes, recognizes objects and actions, and accurately places content in context. This capability is transformative for creative teams, media companies, and organizations managing massive multimedia libraries.
Dropbox Dash: Your AI-Powered Work Command Center
Dropbox Dash functions as a context-aware AI teammate that connects to all your work apps, providing everything you need in one secure, centralized location. Unlike standalone AI tools that operate in isolation, Dash understands your entire work ecosystem.
Revolutionary capabilities include:
Universal Cross-App Intelligence — Dash now integrates deeply with essential workplace tools including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Canva, and Jira. Search your Canva designs, Slack conversations, and Zoom transcripts simultaneously without switching tabs or losing context.
Contextual AI Answers — Ask complex questions like “What did the team decide about the social media campaign during last week’s meetings?” Dash synthesizes information from multiple sources—emails, chat messages, documents, and meeting recordings—to deliver comprehensive, actionable answers.
Developer-Friendly Integration — The new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server allows developers to search all their content directly within MCP-compatible applications like Claude, Cursor, and Goose. Code while accessing your entire knowledge base without breaking focus.
Intelligent Summarization — Get instant summaries of lengthy documents, video meetings, and audio recordings. Ask “What’s new in the latest client proposal?” and receive concise highlights without opening files.
Enterprise-Grade Security and Compliance
For organizations handling sensitive information, security isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical. Dash includes advanced security controls that enable IT administrators to exclude specific content, manage granular access permissions across all connected apps, and maintain full GDPR compliance.
Custom exclusions ensure HR documents, financial data, and confidential projects never appear in search results for unauthorized users.
Perfect for Creative and Technical Teams
Teams in creative, technology, media, and other fields can now get the answers they need more quickly without manually digging through folders, timelines, or multiple tools. Video editors can locate specific shots across terabytes of footage. Product managers can surface customer feedback themes from months of user interviews. Engineers can find code examples from past projects instantly.
The platform can surface specific visual motifs across an entire creative archive or summarize years of client meetings into concise, searchable highlights—capabilities previously requiring manual review or custom development.
When Can You Get Started?
Teams in the United States can start a free trial of the Dash app today in English—even without an existing Dropbox plan. The standalone Dash application is available immediately for businesses ready to transform their search experience.
For existing Dropbox users, the integration of Dash features into the main Dropbox application is rolling out to select customers now, with wider availability expected in the coming months. Users interested in early access can join the waitlist on Dropbox’s website.
The multimodal search capabilities powered by Mobius Labs’ Aana technology will be integrated progressively, further extending Dash’s ability to understand and search rich media content.
The Future of Work Search
Dropbox isn’t merely adding AI features—the company is fundamentally reimagining how we interact with our digital work lives. By combining Mobius Labs’ cutting-edge multimodal AI with Dash’s comprehensive cross-app intelligence, Dropbox is positioning itself as the essential control center for modern knowledge work.
In an increasingly fragmented digital workplace, where information sprawls across countless platforms and formats, intelligent search isn’t just convenient—it’s critical for maintaining productivity and competitive advantage.
Ready to transform your search experience? Visit Dropbox’s website to start your free Dash trial or join the waitlist for early access to the enhanced Dropbox experience.
