Google revealed on Friday that it will phase down Google assistant later this year and replace it with Gemini, its AI-powered assistant.
The tech giant made the news in a blog post, explaining its strategy for transitioning customers across devices to the more advanced AI system.
While Google did not specify a date for the change, it did clarify that Google Assistant will no longer be available on most mobile devices by the end of the year.
Google Assistant, which debuted in 2016, was primarily based around natural language processing and speech recognition.
In contrast, Gemini, unveiled last year, is a generative AI-powered assistant meant for more advanced reasoning, multimodal comprehension (text, visuals, and audio), and deeper interactions.
According to Google, millions of users have already migrated from Assistant to Gemini, and the firm intends to extend the transition to additional mobile devices in the coming months.
“To continue our work of building the world’s most helpful assistant, we’ve reimagined the experience with AI at its core to make Gemini your personal, AI-powered assistant. While our expectations for what an assistant can do are rapidly changing, the mission remains the same.”
The company added that “millions of people have already made the switch from Google Assistant to Gemini, and they are telling us how helpful the new, AI-powered features are in their daily lives. So we want to update you on how we’ll bring this enhanced experience to as many people as possible.”
To help with the transition, the the giant has included popular Google Assistant functions like music playing and timers into Gemini.
