Google has decided to silence its voice Assistant and replace it with the Gemini AI service.
Assistant debuted in 2016 and offered what Google called a “conversational interface” that could “enjoy entertainment, manage everyday tasks, and get answers from Google”.
Receiving assistance from the Assistant required users to either mash an icon or utter the key phrase “OK Google”, then speak a command. The tool was included with Android and many Google services. Google also baked the assistant into its smart speakers and smart home gadgetry, and allowed third party hardware manufacturers to do so too.
Developers were wooed to put Assistant to work with “Actions” that allowed the tool to perform custom tasks.
To illustrate actions, Google imagined a hypothetical website called “Heavy Metal Detector” that offered a gig guide and news for aficionados of loud rock music. Google suggested the operator of such a site would build an action that allowed users to speak prompts such as “OK, Google. Talk to Heavy Metal Detector to find metal concerts.”
Sadly, Assistant is not very good. In your correspondent’s experience it would often struggle to interpret the above request for info about metal gigs. And a smart speaker in a distant room was as likely to respond to a prompt as one at arm’s length.
In 2022 our columnist Mark Pesce opined that the whole category of voice assistants had failed because nobody used them for anything other than playing music and countdown timers.
In 2023, Google retired Actions, suggesting Mark was right.
Google now seems to have tired of Assistant, too, as a Friday post announced it will be replaced by the Big G’s shiny new generative AI toy, Gemini.
“Over the coming months, we’re upgrading more users on mobile devices from Google Assistant to Gemini; and later this year, the classic Google Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices,” wrote Gemini app senior director for product management Brian Marquardt.
“Additionally, we’ll be upgrading tablets, cars and devices that connect to your phone, such as headphones and watches, to Gemini,” he added.
Marquardt also promised “a new experience, powered by Gemini, to home devices like speakers, displays and TVs” with details to come “in the next few months.”
Marquardt’s post offers no detail about that new experience, but opens with the following observation: “We believe an assistant should be personal to you, and aware of the world around you. It should be able to interact with the apps and services you already use. And it should make you more productive, more creative and a bit more curious.”
It’s also possible that Gemini might also make you a little poorer, because Samsung – which is all-in on Google's AI in its latest Galaxy S smartphones – has recently warned buyers of its hardware that they may one day require a subscription to access AI features provided by partners. As of January 2025, the Korean giant said it would be at least a year before AI subscriptions arrived ... which would be a few months after the death of Google Assistant. ®