Google Bard is no more. Almost exactly a year after launching its (hurried) efforts to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the company is retiring the name and rebranding Bard as Gemini, the name of its family of foundation models. More crucially, it is now introducing Gemini Ultra, its most powerful large language model ever.
However, Gemini Ultra will be a paid experience. Google is making it available through a new $20 Google One tier (with a two-month free trial) that includes 2TB of storage. The rest of Google One’s feature set, and access to Gemini in Google Workspace apps such as Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Meet. Google will also retire the Duet AI brand, which was primarily limited to its AI features in Workspace, and shift it to Gemini as well.
Gemini Ultra 1.0
Gemini Advanced will be available in over 150 countries and territories, however only in English for the time being. Japanese and Korean are next on the list of additional languages.
When Google launched Gemini, only the Gemini Pro variant was readily available through Bard. Google claimed that Gemini Pro performed about on par with GPT-3.5, but with GPT-4 publicly available.
Google had stated that the flagship model, Gemini Ultra, would be available to consumers in early 2024 following a round of private testing. While the firm did not directly state it, it was widely assumed at the time that the Ultra model would be included in a premium plan known as Bard Advanced, rebranded as Gemini Advanced.
“Gemini Ultra 1.0 is a model that sets the state of the art across a wide range of benchmarks across text, image, audio and video,” Google’s Sissie Hsiao said in a press conference ahead of today’s announcement.
“For Google, Gemini is more than just the models. It’s really a shift in how we think about the state-of-the-art technology and the entire ecosystem that we’re building on it, from products that affect billions of users, to the APIs and platforms that developers and businesses use to innovate.”
While Google brags about Bard’s user ratings, many early adopters are unlikely to return after it delivered mediocre results, making a makeover nearly necessary.
Bard had already converted to Gemini Pro, thus there will be no substantial changes for free users. Those who pay for Gemini Advanced will get access to the Gemini Ultra 1.0 variant. We’ll have to see for ourselves how good Gemini Ultra 1.0 is. During this week’s press briefing, Google remained opaque about its capabilities.
GEMINI ADVANCED
Gemini Advanced, which is now the only option to access Ultra 1.0, will need users to join up for the new $20 Google One AI Premium plan. This plan offers all of the benefits of the current Google One Premium plan (2TB of storage, special Google Photos editing features, Google Meet premium video features, and Google Calendar’s advanced appointment scheduling.
Additionally, customers will have access to the more advanced model anywhere Gemini is offered. They will soon get access to Gemini in Google Workspace, which will most likely be similar to Microsoft Copilot, though Google declined to disclose any information.
