Yesterday, Google made an important announcement by uniting all of its AI efforts under a single name – Gemini. This means that Google’s AI chatbot, formerly known as Bard, is now called Gemini, and the tech giant has also introduced a separate Android app.
But do you remember last year’s announcement by Google that it was planning to add AI capabilities to the standard Android Assistant as part of a service called Assistant with Bard? After the Bard rebranding, there may be uncertainty about the future of Assistant’s AI services.
In response to this change, Google explained to Android Authority that Gemini on Android is exactly the experience that Assistant with Bard was supposed to provide.
“The vision we shared in October remains the same: to create a true AI assistant that is conversational, multimodal, and useful,” said a Google spokesperson.
“Now, thanks to the incredible capabilities of Gemini, we can realize this vision in an even deeper and more meaningful way. The technology allows us to go beyond what we could do before (timers, alarms, weather) to help you energize your ideas and collaborate directly with Google AI on your phone,” the company representative added.
In fact, the functions provided for Assistant with Bard are now fully integrated into Gemini for Android.
Google has already taken the first steps in this direction, as Gemini becomes the default assistant on your Android after you download the app from the Play Store. You can still revert back to the old Assistant in the settings if you prefer.
However, Google is confident that Gemini will contribute to the development of Assistant’s artificial intelligence capabilities in the future. This means that the name “Assistant with Bard” is now a thing of the past forever.