Google has begun rolling out Gemini Live free of charge to all English-language Android users via the Gemini app. Previously available only to those with a $20 monthly Google One AI Premium subscription, Gemini Live is Google’s next-gen voice assistant capable of assisting users in a natural, flowing conversational style.
First demonstrated at Google I/O 2024 in May, Gemini Live uses Google’s most advanced Gemini AI models and talks to you much as a real person would: You can ask it for help on a wide range of topics and interrupt it mid-sentence if you want. Furthermore, Gemini Live will learn from your interactions, adapting to your personal communication style over time.
Gemini Live Gives Users Free (But Limited) Access To Gemini 1.5 Pro
Following a recent announcement on X (formerly Twitter), users will be able to tap the Gemini Live icon at the bottom-right of the screen to instantly “go live” and chat with Gemini. Gemini Live uses Google’s advanced Gemini Pro 1.5 AI model, which is ordinarily available only to paying subscribers. Gemini Live gives users on the free tier access to Google’s premium AI model for the first time.
However, Gemini Live can’t yet perform many of the advanced tricks available to Gemini 1.5 Pro, such as integration with Gmail and Google Docs. If you want these features, you’ll still have to pay for a Google One AI Premium subscription and use the regular “non-Live” Gemini Advanced chatbot. That said, there’s currently not much difference between the Gemini Live experience available to free users and those who pay for a full subscription.
Why Would Google Make Gemini Live Free To Use?
Opening up Gemini Live to non-paying users in this way makes sense, as more people using it means more training data for Google’s future AI models. Although voice recordings are not currently stored, Google will use your transcribed conversation data for such purposes. Also note that human reviewers may also look at saved conversations, albeit in an anonymized form. Nonetheless, Google tells users not to enter confidential information in conversations, which may prove difficult to avoid when chatting naturally. Offering Gemini Live free of charge also puts pressure on other services, such as ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode
No Love For iOS Users Just Yet
As the announcement states, Gemini Live isn’t currently available for iOS, but it should be available soon after Google launches its Gemini app for iOS. Support for languages other than English is expected to commence rolling out in a similar time frame.
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