Almost 10 years ago, Google introduced us to one of its most powerful and influential products, Google Assistant. It was one of the earlier signs that the company was poised to take the AI world by storm. Well, all storms break; Google just announced that Google Assistant will be replaced by Gemini.
The writing was on the wall for more than two years. We all jumped to the logical conclusion that Google would replace Assistant with Bard when it came out. When Gemini landed on Android and started taking some of Assistant’s features, we knew that this day was going to come.
Google Assistant will be replaced by Gemini soon
Well, it looks like Google Assistant won’t see a 10th birthday, as the company announced that its days are numbered. What’s the number? We don’t know. What we do know is that, if you use Google Assistant in your daily life, then you’ll see a major change within the next couple of months.
Google announced in a blog post that it will start moving Google Assistant users over to Gemini “over the coming months”. So, there’s no telling when that will happen for you. Google I/O is happening pretty soon, so there’s no telling if we’ll hear more about the transition during that event.
Along with that announcement, Google also stated that, later this year, you’ll no longer be able to access Google Assistant or download it from the Google Play Store. The company will also remove it from cars, and other devices that use it, and replace it with Gemini.
It’s been a good run
Google introduced Assistant with the first-generation Pixel phone back in 2016. Since then, it’s been at the top of the voice assistant pecking order. It was able to beat out Siri, Alexa, and Bixby when it came to usability and access.
As great as it is, it was no match for the march of progress. While and Amazon are adding generative AI capabilities to their existing assistants, Google felt that it was proper to kill off Google Assistant for Gemini. While it’s sad to see Assistant go, it makes for a more streamlined AI platform. It’s a way of Google saying that Gemini can be your all-in-one solution for both desktop and mobile-based AI.
We’re all going to wake up that day and realize that we’re all on Gemini. This will be for better or worse, but at least Google Assistant had a good run.
