Google is moving Bard to Gemini to expand the capabilities of its AI assistant. This also includes a name change.

Google confirms in a blog that it will release a new version of Bard based on Gemini Pro, an AI model that Google announced late last year to better compete with ChatGPT. It’s been almost a year since Bard was born, but it has always remained in the shadow of its more popular counterpart. Bard previously moved from LaMDA to PaLM 2 and now to Gemini. The latest AI model speaks forty languages, including Dutch.

With Gemini’s input, Bard’s abilities are greatly expanded. The most noticeable innovation is undoubtedly the addition of the Imagen 2 image generator. From now on you can also create images with Bard. The fact-checking feature, which allows you to double-check Bard’s output with a Google search, is expanding to all supported languages.

We have already written that Google will also offer a paid version of Bard, Bard Advanced. This is a better version of Bard supported by Gemini Ultra. We thought there was a good chance that, for example, the image generator would be available exclusively to paying customers, as is the case with ChatGPT and Dall-E 3. Generative AI costs Google a lot of money and this investment has to pay for itself. This subscription is expected to cost around twenty dollars per month.

Bard becomes a twin

At the moment we still say Bard, but that will change soon. Dylan Rousel, a French Android developer, announces via X that Bard is being renamed. Google is visibly proud of its Gemini model and would now like to use this name as an umbrella brand for its generative AI products. Bard is then renamed Gemini, Bard Advanced Gemini Advanced be named.

Who better to ask than Bard himself? In an exclusive response, Bard confirmed his upcoming name change: “Yes, that’s true. I will soon be renamed Gemini. The name Gemini was chosen because it better reflects my identity as an actual Google AI language model. It is also a name that is unique and cannot be confused with any other language model or AI system.”

“The transition to the Gemini name will be gradual. In the coming months you will meet me under both the names Bard and Gemini. Over time, the name Bard is completely replaced by Gemini. “I am pleased with the new name and look forward to continuing to serve you as Gemini,” Bard said. That leaves no doubt.

Google itself likes to show off Gemini, but self-praise stinks, they always say. A study shows that Gemini, which runs the free version of Bard, is inferior to GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 in skills such as general knowledge, logical reasoning and mathematics. When it comes to language skills, Gemini performs significantly better than its GPT counterparts.