Scoop: Google Assistant to get an AI makeover

Google plans to revise its Assistant to focus on generative use AI technologies similar to those powered by ChatGPT and its own chatbot bardaccording to an internal email sent to employees Monday and seen by Axios.

why does it matter: Movement will change how Assistant works for consumers, developers, and Google’s own employees, and the company is, for now, supporting old and new approaches.

Details: Google says work has begun on the revamped Assistant, starting with the mobile version of the product.

• As part of the move, Google is reshuffling the teams working on Assistant.
• The company said in the email that it is making a small number of layoffs along with the change.
• The move will entail the elimination of dozens of jobs, Axios is told, out of the thousands of employees who work on the Assistant.

what are they saying: “We remain deeply committed to Assistant and are optimistic about its bright future ahead,” Google Vice President Peeyush Ranjan and Chief Product Officer Duke Dukellis wrote in the email.

The panorama: Other companies, including Amazon, are making similar moves. The trading giant is working on an AI-powered reset for Alexayour digital assistant for a long time.

go deeper: Here is the text of the full e-mail:

Subject: Vision Assistant and Equipment Changes

Hi team,

Since we launched Assistant seven years ago, we’ve created great experiences for the hundreds of millions of people who use it every month. And we’ve heard people’s strong desire for assistive and conversational technology that can improve their lives.

As a team, we need to focus on delivering high-quality, critical product experiences for our users. We’ve also seen the profound potential of generative AI to transform people’s lives and see a great opportunity to explore what a supercharged Assistant, powered by the latest LLM technology, would look like. (Some of the team has already started working on this, starting with mobile.)

To do both with speed and focus, we’re making some organizational changes:

We are combining the Services and Surfaces teams, which will be led by Unni and Bryant.

The Mobile team will operate separately under Minni and Zaheed.

The NLP team will now be led by Xiaonan and Lisa. A heartfelt thank you to Michelle, who, in addition to her day-to-day work as infrastructure lead, has managed the NLP team for the last 4 months. Michelle will now lead the infrastructure to 100% capacity.

Speech will continue to be compatible with Assistant and other products, and Françoise will now report to Sissie.

As part of this update, we will also be removing a small number of roles within the team. We have already informed these teammates and will provide dedicated support to help them through this transition. All those affected will have a minimum internal search period of 60 days, depending on local requirements. These have been incredibly difficult decisions, so please support your teammates processing this news.

Duke and I will be hosting a town hall tomorrow to discuss the changes in the organization in more detail and answer your questions. (We know that tomorrow is a holiday in Zurich, so we’ll also organize an EMEA-compatible option on Wednesday.) Some teams will be hosting town halls next week; keep an eye out for calendar invites. We remain deeply committed to Assistant and are optimistic about the bright future that lies ahead.

Thank you,

Peeyush and Duke