Google renames Bard to Gemini, launches paid ‘Gemini Advanced’ with Ultra 1.0

Teased in December as its most capable AI model, Google is rolling out Gemini Ultra 1.0 today. To mark this occasion, Google Bard is being renamed to Gemini on the web, while it’s now available on Android and iOS.

This new name is meant to reflect how end users are interacting with the underlying Gemini model. Google wants to cut out the middle brand that was “Bard,” while the “Experiment” label is now gone on the web. 

Our mission with Bard has always been to give you direct access to our Al models, and Gemini represents our most capable family of models. To reflect this, Bard will now simply be known as Gemini.

Besides the rename, gemini.google.com – previously bard.google.com – has been updated with a navigation rail where you’ll find settings, activity, and help located at the bottom.

This free version of Gemini is available for all users and remains powered by Gemini Pro 1.0, which launched in Europe last week and just picked up an image generator. As of today, it’s available in Canada.

Meanwhile, Gemini Advanced provides access to Gemini Ultra 1.0. It’s “far more capable” at coding, logical reasoning, “following nuanced instructions”/prompts, creative collaboration, and other highly complex tasks. You access it from a switcher in the top-left of the screen. 

Google cites examples like using Gemini Advanced as a personal tutor that can offer step-by-step instructions, hold back-and-forth discussions, and generate quizzes. For advanced coding sessions, you can use it as a “sounding board for ideas and helping you evaluate different coding approaches.”

In the future, Gemini Advanced will get expanded multimodal capabilities and even better coding features, as well as the ability to upload and more deeply analyze data and documents.

In blind evaluations with our third-party raters, Gemini Advanced with Ultra 1.0 is now the most preferred chatbot compared to leading alternatives.

Gemini Advanced is available today in English across 150 countries/territories. Expanded language support is coming.

Access requires a new Google One AI Premium tier that costs $19.99 per month. It’s essentially the Google One 2TB tier with the addition of Gemini Advanced today, while Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and other Google Workspace apps is coming soon. This is a rebrand of Duet AI, which includes Help me write, visualize, and organize.