Google Assistant to stay on devices till 2026 as Gemini upgrade gets a new deadline

Google Assistant will stick around on users’ smartphones at least till early 2026, according to a recent communique by the internet major. The company had originally planned to replace the legacy chatbot with Gemini by the end of this year.

In a blog post on Friday, Google said, “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. We’ll share more details on our plans in the coming months.”

Gemini has been in line to succeed Assistant since late 2023 when it was launched for smartphones. Google had been giving it Assistant’s features, like answering queries, controlling phone functions, responding to messages and controlling connected smart devices. It was even made the default digital assistant on Android in 2024 with the Pixel 9 series. But the nine-year-old Assistant continued to be installed on Android smartphones, with prompts to switch over to Gemini.


Google has been preparing Gemini to lead the artificial intelligence (AI) race, currently dominated by OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT. The tech major has been incorporating its AI model into various products, including its flagship Search, with the AI mode. Google has already added Gemini to Wear OS smartwatches, Android Auto, and Nest and Google Home smart devices.