Google is the latest tech giant to ask you to pay up if you want to access its top-of-the-line AI chatbot.
Gemini Advanced is the newest generative AI system to hit the market as part of Google’s new AI Premium package, which is available for $19.99 a month. The plan gives access to Google’s most advanced generative AI model, called Gemini Ultra, and also includes extra storage, meeting and scheduling features, and other Google One Premium perks.
Gemini Advanced is built off the back of Google’s Bard chatbot, which was launched last year and is free to use. Google is rebranding Bard, along with its other existing AI platforms like Google Workspace collaborator Duet AI, under the Gemini name.
Google touts Gemini Advanced as being “far more capable at highly-complex tasks like coding, logical reasoning, following nuanced instructions, and collaborating on creative projects.”
“I’m very excited with the quality of this model. I think this is going to really blow people away with just how sophisticated this model is and how smart it feels,” Sissie Hsiao, Google’s head of AI products, told BI’s Hugh Langley.
Gemini Advanced is available in 40 languages online, and will also have mobile functionality via the Google app on iOS. For Androids, there will be a dedicated Gemini app released on the Google Play Store.
Google says it will also be compatible with Google Workspace services “soon,” allowing AI Premium subscribers to use it for Gmail, Google Docs, and other apps.
Google’s efforts come in the wake of the generative AI craze pioneered by ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI. OpenAI has partnered with Google competitor Microsoft — which has also released its own subscription chatbot, Copilot, also available at $20 per month.
Amazon has begun rolling out a beta of its new free AI-powered shopping assistant called Rufus, with plans for a wider launch. And Grok, developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, is available to premium subscribers on X, formerly Twitter, for $16 per month.
Google’s Bard has struggled to keep pace with ChatGPT, which remains the most popular chatbot by site visits, according to The Wall Street Journal. A subscription-based tier, ChatGPT Plus, is also priced at $20 a month.
