• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 8, 2024

Google on Thursday moved into the “Gemini Era” -- rebranding its Bard technology to Gemini, a reflection of the company’s advancements in generative artificial intelligence (GAI).

The GAI technology becomes available on the web, in a new Gemini app for Android, and in the Google app on Apple iOS in English in the U.S. There was no mention of whether the technology would become available on TV, smart displays, and speakers. 

Sissie Hsiao, vice president and general manager of Gemini experiences and Google Assistant, said the company believes in making AI helpful for everyone, and “this will be one of the most profound ways we will advance our company’s mission.”

Next week Gemini becomes available in Asia-Pacific in English, Japanese and Korean, with more countries and languages coming soon.

When asked during a press briefing to describe Gemini’s sense of humor and personality, Hsiao said that “some of it comes through when you ask the model to behave a certain way,” such as “be a humorous dad for certain parts of the conversation, it will adopt a personality.”

Google’s move to bring GAI capabilities to the device in an important step in building a true AI assistant through text, voice, and share images.

“If you get a flat tire, you can take a picture of it and ask Gemini for next steps,” Hsiao said.

Google also launched Gemini Advanced, a new experience that gives users access to Ultra 1.0, the company’s largest and most capable AI model with the ability to complete highly complex tasks such as coding, logic and reasoning.

It becomes available in 150 countries and territories in English to start through the new Google One AI Premium plan.

There have been positive reviews of Google’s advancements. Damian Rollison, director at market Insights of SOCi, an AI-driven marketing technology company, reached out to Media Daily News last week based on an earlier news.

“Gemini Ultra has the potential not just to surpass the performance and capabilities of GPT-4, as Google claims, but to transform how businesses harness AI for complex tasks,” Rollinson said. “The real game-changer will be Gemini's integration into Google Workspaces, potentially transforming Google's value proposition for organizations that are in dire need of seamless AI integration.”

Exclusive features will be added into Gemini Advanced, such as expanded multimodal capabilities, more interactive coding features, and deeper data analysis. It will be available through Google One, a subscription service that has about 100 million subscribers.

Duet AI, a chatbot-based AI-powered collaborator from Google Cloud that launched last year, now becomes Gemini for Google Workspace and Google Cloud. 

For consumers this means Gemini in Docs, Gmail, Slides, Sheets and Meet will become part of the Gemini Premium Plan. It will act as a collaborative partner.

GAI is known to solve important challenges, merge a large number of ideas, or generate stronger results. Advertisers and marketers will find that Gemini boosts ideas to spur creativity.

Business customers, including advertisers and marketers, can gain access to GAI features in Workspace through an add-on to their Workspace subscription, which is intended to enhance productivity and creativity.

Google said users will remain in control of their data and how it is used.