Google Assistant is reportedly being sunsetted this year, but the company is delaying its plans to discontinue its iconic AI-powered companion on smart devices, with the removal now expected to occur next year.
Over the recent years, Google has made it clear that Gemini is the future and Assistant is the past, with the Big Tech internet giant saying that generative AI experiences will replace the years-long reign of the AI assistant on its ecosystem.
Google Assistant Remains Until Next Year
A new post from Google’s community manager on the Gemini support page unveiled that Assistant will continue to live on and see 2026 as the plans to sunset it have been delayed by the company.
“Earlier this year, we shared our plans to upgrade the Assistant experience to Gemini on most mobile devices by the end of 2025. We’re adjusting our previously announced timeline to make sure we deliver a seamless transition, and will continue our work to upgrade Assistant users to Gemini on mobile devices into 2026,” said Google in its latest community update.
The company shared earlier this year that it plans to make Gemini the central generative AI experience on its smart devices, and this includes it being an AI assistant to adhere to user needs. This role is currently split between Google Assistant and Gemini, as many smartphones already have access to the generative AI-powered experience on their devices, while Assistant remains on the sidelines.
The company did not unveil the exact reason why Assistant’s sunsetting and transition to Gemini is delayed, especially as the company already planned for this to take place by the end of this year. Google did not specify whether it was caused by a delay in its development to transition Gemini and take over Assistant’s role, or if it was caused by massive public demand.
Next year’s sunsetting of Assistant will also coincide with its 10th anniversary celebration since it was introduced by Google in 2026, and since then, it has been one of the top-rated on-device AI assistants, rivaling the likes of Siri, Alexa, and more.
Gemini 2025 Replacement Plans Delayed
Google Gemini is now the main product of the Mountain View tech giant for all machine learning experiences, and it has been touted to be the next AI assistant that supersedes Assistant in many ways.
Since Gemini was introduced in 2024, many have already speculated that Assistant is getting replaced by it, but due to uncertainties and public backlash, it took a step back.
That said, it was finally officially confirmed earlier this 2025 that Assistant only has until the end of the year to deliver its renowned natural language processing and features to users. Many have already faced the music that it is Gemini’s era, and despite the massive love for Assistant, Google wants to move forward with its latest machine learning model to power most smart devices.
It came to a point where Google removed several features of Assistant as the company downsized the team behind the technology to work on Gemini’s massive-scale development.
Over the past year, it has been apparent that Gemini is what they want for their ecosystem’s future, but that is delayed for now.
Originally published on Tech Times
