Finally, Google is launching a new subscription service called Gemini Advanced that extends its existing Google One Premium Plan (which gives users extra storage and a few other perks). For $19.99 a month, the new Google One Premium AI Plan will give you access to Google’s most powerful model, Gemini Ultra, for the first time, as well as all the plan’s usual perks. This is very similar to OpenAI’s offering, where for $19.99 a month ChatGPT Premium buys you access to GPT-4 rather than GPT-3.5.
When can you get it? The free Gemini app (powered by Gemini Pro) is available from today in English in the US. Starting next week, you’ll be able to access it across the Asia Pacific region in English and in Japanese and Korean. But there is no word on when the app will come to the UK, countries in the EU or Switzerland.
Gemini Advanced (the paid-for service that gives access to Gemini Ultra) is available in English in more than 150 countries, including the UK and EU (but not France). Google says it is analyzing local requirements and fine-tuning Gemini for cultural nuance in different countries. But it claims that more languages and regions are coming.
What can you do with it? Google says it has developed its Gemini products with the help of more than 100 testers and power-users. At the press conference yesterday, Google execs outlined a handful of use cases, such as getting Gemini to help write a cover letter for a job application. “This can help you come across as more professional and increase your relevance to recruiters,” said Google vice president for product management, Kristina Behr.
Or you could take a picture of your flat tire and ask Gemini how to fix it. A more elaborate example involved Gemini managing a snack-rota for the parents of kids on a soccer team. Gemini would come up with the rota for who brought snacks and when, help you email other parents, and then field their replies. In future versions, Gemini will be able to draw on data in your Google Drive that could help manage carpooling around game schedules, Behr said.
But we should expect users to find a lot more uses for these tools. “I’m really excited to see how people around the world are going to push the envelope on this AI,” Hsaio said.
Is it safe? Google has been working hard to make sure its slick products are safe to use. But no amount of testing can anticipate all the ways that tech will get used and misused once it is released. In the last few months, Meta saw people use its image-making app to produce pictures of Mickey Mouse with guns and Spongebob Squarepants flying a jet into two towers. Others used Microsoft’s image-making software to create fake pornographic images of Taylor Swift.
The AI Act aims to mitigate some—but not all—these problems. For example, it requires the makers of powerful AI like Gemini to build in safeguards, such as watermarking for generated images and steps to avoid reproducing copyrighted material. Google says that all images generated by its products will include its SynthID watermarks.
Like most companies, Google was knocked onto the back foot when ChatGPT arrived. Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI has given it a boost over its old rival. But with Gemini, Google has come back strong: this is the slickest packaging of this generation’s tech yet.
