This is the first official declaration from Google that the Google Assistant is on its way out, but it’s not like we weren’t expecting it. Gemini is already the default experience on most mainstream Android devices,

Gemini, Google ’s generative AI assistant and rival to ChatGPT, has become integral to high-end Android phones over the past year, gradually superseding the more basic Google Assistant. Now Google has outlined plans to sunset its original smart assistant entirely, starting with Android phones.

The classic Google Assistant “will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices or available for new downloads on mobile app stores” at some point “later this year.” “Additionally, we’ll be upgrading tablets,