The Gemini AI quietly continues its merry way. In a blog post published on Thursday, February 8, 2024, Google announced a number of important developments in its generative AI service.
Bard becomes Gemini and adopts the Ultra model through Gemini Advanced
To start, Bard is renamed Gemini. The American company explains this change as follows: “Our mission at Bard has always been to give you direct access to our AI models, and Gemini represents our most capable model family. To reflect this, Bard will now be known simply as Gemini”.
Access to generative artificial intelligence therefore adapts and moves from bard.google.com to gemini.google.com. As a reminder, the service has been running in France since the beginning of February 2024 under the Gemini Pro 1.0 model.
Google is moving up a gear today thanks to Gemini Advanced. The latter runs on its most advanced AI model, Gemini Ultra 1.0, and is accessible via a new subscription for $19.99 per month: Google One AI Premium.
“Much better able to perform highly complex tasks such as coding, logical reasoning, following nuanced instructions, and collaborating on creative projects”, Gemini Advanced is currently limited to English and 150 countries (of which France is not one). Google still indicates access will be expanded to other languages”after a while”.
Please note: The Google One AI Premium plan includes all the benefits of Google One Premium, including 2TB cloud storage. Google emphasizes that subscribers “shortly” use Gemini for its other services, including Gmail, Docs, Presentations, and Sheets.
Gemini arrives on Android and iOS
Google has also expanded access to Gemini on smartphones, both on Android and iOS.
For starters, a Gemini app is now available on the Play Store. Thanks to the latter, it is possible to start Google’s generative AI in several ways: via the app icon, by pressing and holding the power button, by sliding your finger diagonally from a corner of the screen or by pressing the well-known phrase “Hey Google”.
Then a contextual panel will open where you can write, speak or take a photo to make a request with Gemini.
On iOS, Gemini integration is not as thorough as on Android. For example, AI can be accessed via a new section at the top of the Google application. By clicking on the star icon we find an interface similar to the web version of Gemini, through which you can write, speak or take a photo to make a request.
The Gemini app is currently only available in English on Android and iOS in the United States. “Starting next week you’ll be able to access it in more places in English, Japanese and Korean, and soon in other countries and languages”, Google specifies.