Google has officially confirmed that is retiring its classic Google Assistant later in the year and Gemini will take up the mantle of default assistant app on Android. In a blogpost about the major shift, Google informed that classic Google Assisstant will no longer be accessible on most Android devices or for new downloads.
Moreover, the company also confirmed that tablets, cars and other devices that connect to the phone like headphones and watches will also be upgraded to Gemini. The tech giant further confirmed that it will be bringing Gemini to other home devices as well like speakers, displays and TVs.
In a release about replacing Google Assistant with Gemini, Brian Marquardt, Senior Director, Product Management, Gemini app wrote, “When we launched Google Assistant in 2016, natural language processing and voice recognition technology unlocked a more natural way to get help from Google. 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.”
“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 senior executive added.
Google Assistant is not going for everyone:
Google also announced that the Google Assistant will remain accessible for devices Android 9 or earlier and lack a minimum of 2GB of RAM.
Over the past year, Google has shipped Gemini as the default assistant on many new devices from OnePlus, Vivo, Samsung and more, giving a hint of what was to come. However, users still had a chance to go back to Google Assistant if they did not like Gemini but Google is now full on commited to the AI chatbot is willing to take the leap of faith.
Google says it will announce a confirmed date later in the year when Google Assistant will stop being accessible.
