In Notion, data is stored in generic "database" form, which is basically a table. Different views –– like kanban boards, calendar views, and gantt charts –– are layered on top.

A "new type of database" means that they've added another type of database layer to Notion. It is a perfectly reasonable way to phrase it.

Congrats to the Notion team, you've made a phenomenal product! There's some incredible product sense inside your company.

The different table types in notion are called databases. It's not trying to make out they've invented timelines.