Google is Rebranding Bard as Gemini

Google appears to be having its Copilot moment and will rebrand its Bard generative AI services to Gemini. Which, yes, is the same name it uses for its most capable family of AI models.

“Bard is now Gemini,” a Bard changelog first spotted by developer Dylan Roussel (Evo) reads. “Gemini is the best way to get direct access to Google Al. All the collaborative capabilities you know and love are still here, and will keep getting better in the Gemini era. We’ve also evolved the Ul to reduce visual distractions, improve legibility, and simplify the navigation.”

“We’re committed to giving everyone direct access to Google Al and, as of this week, every Gemini user across our supported countries and languages has access to Google’s best family of Al models,” the changelog continues. “To better reflect this commitment, we’ve renamed Bard to Gemini.”

Google announced Bard in February 2023 as its answer to Microsoft Copilot, which had just been announced itself (as Bing Chat). It was poorly received at first, in part because it felt like Google had rushed the product to market. But it’s improved a lot since then, with Google recently launching new AI image generation capabilities. Separately, Google launched its three-tier Gemini AI model family in December, and incorporated that into Bard, with support for other Google products and services coming soon.

Gemini feels like a better brand than Bard, though it’s worth pointing out that Bard was meant to evoke William Shakespeare, who was known as the Bard. But the word more generally means a poet or storyteller, and the name makes sense for a generative AI solution whose core feature is creating text.

There’s no official announcement yet, but the Bard changelog says that Gemini is now available on the web in Canada in English and French, and that a Gemini app will launch on select devices in English in the US first. That app will then be made available in Japanese, Korean, and English globally “the in coming days,” except for the UK, Switzerland, European Economic Area countries, and associated territories. More countries and languages will be coming soon, it adds.

“This is a step towards our vision to deliver the world’s most helpful Al assistant,” the changelog continues. Now that’s an interesting term. I wonder if the Google Assistant is next?