Summary
- Google’s new version of its Assistant called “Assistant with Bard” may be named “Gemini” after the company experimented with a standalone “Bard” brand for it.
- The new name “Gemini” could help promote the underlying AI technology and create a more cohesive branding strategy for Google’s AI tools.
- Regardless of the final name, fully separating the new Assistant with Bard from the legacy Assistant will likely help manage user expectations.
Google is working on a new generative AI-powered version of its trusty Assistant, which the company first teased during its Pixel 8 launch event in October 2023. The name of the new service, “Assistant with Bard,” doesn’t roll off the tongue too well, though. It looks like the company recognizes this, as Google is currently experimenting with alternative names. Strings within the Google app first switched from calling it “Assistant with Bard” to just “Bard.” Now, another familiar name has shown up for the service: “Gemini.”
In case you’re not familiar, Gemini is the underlying generative AI model that Google uses to power its various AI tools like Bard, just like OpenAI’s GPT powers ChatGPT. In Google app version 15.4 for Android, 9to5Google discovered that all references to “Bard” have been replaced with “Gemini.” Rather than asking users to select between Assistant and Bard as their preferred digital assistant app, it now offers a choice of Assistant and Gemini.
The new designation could be a way for Google to promote the underlying technology of its AI more aggressively, just like ChatGPT and GPT are inseparably connected by their names. At the same time, it introduces some problems. 9to5Google spotted that in the process, Google is also renaming the paid Bard Advanced version within the Google app to Gemini Advanced. Given that Gemini comes in three different sizes (Nano, Pro, Ultra), the publication notes that this would lead to a convoluted branding that’s “something like: Gemini Advanced powered by Gemini Ultra.” It’s possible that the Advanced wording was just a placeholder from the get-go, though.
Source: 9to5Google
The evolution of the Assistant with Bard brand over the last few Google app versions on Android
Given the problems with the new name, it’s clear that Google likely isn’t done with the branding process. Leaving out Bard from the equation might be a good idea, though. Google Bard was positioned as an experiment from the get-go, and it’s only one of many AI tools the company now offers, with no overarching brand connecting all of Google’s AI efforts. For example, the Bard brand is fully separate from Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Duet AI for Workspace, and a variety of other tools like Magic Editor and Video Boost. In that sense, it might make more sense to use the Gemini name to tie all these tools together in the future.
Whether Google settles for Gemini or Bard, either of these names is arguably better than the convoluted “Assistant with Bard,” which tries to marry two different products into one. Given that Assistant with Bard is supposed to launch with a limited feature set compared to the legacy Assistant, it would make sense to make clear that it’s a separate product altogether, if only to prevent user dissatisfaction.
