‘Assistant with Bard’ might get rebranded before it arrives on your Google Pixel phone

Google could be planning to replace the iconic ‘Assistant’ name that has accompanied Pixel and other Android smartphones for years with ‘Bard’, perhaps seeking to denote a big functional evolution that could exist between the classic Assistant and the capabilities that it will bring to the previously known as ‘Assistant with Bard’.

‘Assistant with Bard’ was announced in October 2023 with the launch of the Pixel 8 series. As its name suggests, it is a product of the integration of Assistant with Bard, Google’s AI-powered chatbot launched to take on ChatGPT and other similar services. This integration would take its functionality to a new level thanks to the power of generative AI.

However, the initial plan regarding the final name of the service might have changed. According to 9to5Google, Google app v15.2 tweaked the welcome message and most mentions of ‘Assistant’ to replace it with ‘Bard’, so everything points to an aggressive rebranding.

In the aforementioned Google app version, even the ‘classic’ command that allowed you to switch to the current Assistant no longer works. Notably, the official post about Assistant with Bard still uses that name, so it’s possible they’re just beginning to implement the alleged rebranding.

Also, as shown in the same screenshot above, the company refers to its new experience as an assistant in itself and not as an extension or new version of ‘Assistant’. So, it’s likely that once Google has it ready for its broad rollout, we’ll face the disappearance of Assistant and have to get used to the new name, which will possibly be offset by the gains in functionality.

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