Google is officially replacing Assistant with Gemini – and there’s only one way to keep it

After just nine years, Google is moving Assistant to the graveyard.

Last fall, Google announced it was officially replacing Assistant, the default Android assistant on your phone, with Gemini. You still had the option to use Assistant, but now that option is ending and users must move to Gemini. 

Also: Google Gemini just made two of its best features available for free

It’s not just phones making the upgrade. Google added that Gemini is also coming to tablets, cars, devices that connect to your phone, like watches and headphones, home devices, such as speakers and displays, and TVs “in the coming months”. 

Google said millions of people have already made the switch, with Gemini now available in more than 40 languages and over 200 countries. 

So, why has Google made the change? The goal is for Gemini to become a technology beyond Assistant’s capabilities.

Also: Google launches Gemini with Personalization, beating Apple to personal AI

However, Google wants to create an assistant that can also interact with other apps and services, that’s aware of the world around you, to make you more productive and creative, and, perhaps most importantly, to be personal — and artificial intelligence is at the core of that approach.