This can’t be surprising, but Google said today that it will replace the Google Assistant in Android with Gemini this year.
“When we launched Google Assistant in 2016, natural language processing and voice recognition technology unlocked a more natural way to get help from Google,” Google senior director of product management Brian Marquardt explains. “Nearly a decade later, we’re in the midst of another platform shift. This time, generative AI is transforming the way we interact with technology.”
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Rumors of this shift date back to 2023, before Google rebranded Bard to Gemini. But since then, it has released and continuously updated its Gemini app on Android (and its Gemini AI models everywhere), and it now lets customers switch the default digital assistant in Android from Google Assistant to Gemini. According to the firm, “millions” have already made that switch. But now it will take the next step and replace Assistant with Gemini on Android.
“Over the coming months, we’re upgrading more users on mobile devices from Google Assistant to Gemini,” Marquardt continues. “And later this year, the classic Google Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices or available for new downloads on mobile app stores.” That said, Google Assistant will remain unchanged for those using an Android device that doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for Gemini.
And this isn’t just phones. Google is also upgrading Android-based tablets, cars, and other devices that connect to an Android phone, like its headphones and watches, to Gemini. And new Gemini-powered experiences are coming to smart speakers, smart displays, smart TVs, and other home devices.
Gemini has come a long way, for sure. Today’s Google’s AI-powered assistant is available in over 40 languages in over 200 countries, and it also works on iPhones and other Apple devices and provides all the Google Assistant experiences users want plus new functionality like Gemini Live conversations and Deep Research. Google says it will have more to share about coming advances “in the next few months,” which presumably means May’s Google I/O event. But it’s pretty clear that Gemini is ready to take over for Google Assistant right now.
