Google has made Gemini Live, its voice artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, available for free to all Android users.
The offering is notable, Ars Technica said in a report Friday (Sept. 13), because rival OpenAI’s similar voice feature has yet to fully ship.
Google debuted Gemini Live during its Pixel 9 launch event in August, at first making it available solely to Gemini Advanced subscribers. Now, anyone using the Gemini app or its overlay on Android can access the service.
“Interestingly, while OpenAI originally demoed its Advanced Voice Mode in May with the launch of GPT-4o, it has only shipped the feature to a limited number of users starting in late July,” the Ars Technica report said, adding that some AI experts suggest that a larger debut has been held back by limited computer power.
“Gemini Live is a mobile conversational experience that lets you have free-flowing conversations with Gemini,” Sissie Hsiao, vice president and general manager, Gemini experiences and Google Assistant, wrote in a blog post announcing the feature last month.
Hsiao added that the AI assistant lets users interrupt in midsentence to request additional details, pause a conversation and come back to it later, and keep talking with it in the background or when the phone is locked.
Google also plans to connect Gemini with more Google apps and tools, as well as plans to launch extensions for Keep, Tasks, Utilities, Calendar and expanded features on YouTube Music in the weeks ahead.
“Because Gemini is fully integrated into Android, users can access it at any time, no matter what else they’re doing on their phone,” PYMNTS noted. “It can also read the screen and interact with apps like Gmail and Google Messages.”
The news comes at a time when — as PYMNTS wrote earlier this month — tech giants are racing to develop sophisticated, multilingual AI chatbots for cross-border eCommerce, something that could transform the way businesses engage with international customers.
Google recently expanded Gemini AI in India, illustrating the industry’s emphasis on multilingual capabilities and making Google one of many companies trying to allow chatbots to communicate in a variety of languages.
“Multilingual AI chatbots hold significant potential for SMBs [small and midsize businesses] looking to expand into international markets,” Tim Peters, CMO of Enghouse Systems, said in an interview with PYMNTS.
“By providing real-time, accurate translations, these chatbots can help businesses overcome language barriers, making it easier to connect with customers globally.”
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