Google is reportedly rolling out integration of Google Messages with Gemini, its internal artificial intelligence (AI) model. The company first introduced this feature as a beta update in March 2024, but it is now starting to roll out to users in most regions. Namely, India, United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Economic Area (EEA) are excluded from this update. The Gemini integration allows users to take advantage of the conversational and generative capabilities of the AI model within the Messages app.
Gemini in Google Messages
The Mountain View-based tech giant previewed this new feature at the Google I/O 2024 event. Essentially, the feature creates a separate location to access the AI model. Users can find him as the first contact on the New Conversations screen (accessible by pressing the floating action button located in the lower right corner).
Gemini in Google Messages can compose messages and e-mails, conduct a conversation or find information from the Internet for users. It can also rephrase or rewrite messages to make them better. However, users cannot access Gemini in groups or in a chat with another user. It can only be accessed separately in chat. Namely, Meta allows users to access Meta AI in WhatsApp group chats.
Users can also use emojis in chats and upload an image as a query. However, the AI reportedly cannot process voice messages.
Gemini in Google Messages reportedly appears
According to a report by 9to5Google, the AI feature is now generally available in most regions. Once available, users will reportedly be able to connect AI using Google’s app extensions. All Gemini web client extensions are also available for Gemini in Google Messages, except for the recently introduced YouTube Music extension, the report said.
The report also pointed out that while the feature will be available in the rest of the world, it has not been rolled out in India, the UK, Switzerland and the EEA region of 27 EU countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Google did not disclose the reasons for its decision.
Users will need to activate Rich Communication Services (RCS) before they can use Gemini. Also, these messages are not end-to-end encrypted. In case users come across an incorrect or inappropriate message, they can long press to leave feedback. Currently, this feature can only be used on a smartphone and is not supported by the Wear OS web client or app.
