AI Test Kitchen

Google delists AI Test Kitchen app on Android and iOS [Updated]

Kyle Bradshaw | Aug 1 2023 - 12:53 pm PT

Once a miniature playground for the public to test Google’s blossoming AI-powered tools, the AI Test Kitchen app has been delisted for both Android and iOS, moving solely to the web.

Update: Google has shared additional details about the shutdown of these mobile apps.

When it first launched last August, AI Test Kitchen was home to three initial experimental demos with the promise of more to come.

AI Test Kitchen will be home to a “rotating set of experimental demos” and three are currently available. They are based on the “latest version of LaMDA, which has undergone key safety improvements.”

Imagine It: Name a place and LaMDA will offer paths to explore your imagination.

List It: Name a goal or topic and see how much LaMDA can break it down into multiple lists of subtasks.

Talk About It (Dogs Edition): Roll with the conversation and see where it goes. It’s just a fun, kinda-weird, open-ended chat.

While Google announced that a “Season 2” for the app would be coming, even detailing what new tools would appear, it seems those plans were scrapped at some point. Instead, AI Test Kitchen gained MusicLM at this past Google I/O and simultaneously dropped support for the earlier demos.

Update 8/1: A Google spokesperson has confirmed that while AI Test Kitchen’s mobile apps are shutting down, the playground itself is simply moving to the web. In the hours after the mobile apps were delisted, the apps themselves stopped working, pushing users to use the web experience instead.

The move is intended to allow AI Test Kitchen to be updated more rapidly and easily across all devices instead of pushing separate updates to Android, iOS, and the web.

We’ve updated our coverage to reflect that this latest change only affects the mobile apps.

On Monday, AI Test Kitchen’s mobile apps began winding down, as they’re no longer publicly listed on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store (though they may still be visible to those who previously installed them). Those who previously used the mobile app can continue to access MusicLM (and any potential future additions) through the web app.

Considering Google has always positioned AI Test Kitchen as a place for experiments, these mobile apps shutting down isn’t much of a surprise. That said, it’s still somewhat surprising to see the mobile apps seemingly discontinued less than a year after the initial public launch.

Hopefully, we’ll see Google continue to experiment with delightful AI demos going forward in a more public setting instead of through a dedicated app. At the very least, I hope the surprisingly listenable MusicLM isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.