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Google just upgraded its AI chatbot. Access to the new Gemini Advanced chatbot is available right now through a monthly subscription to Google One, the company's cloud backup service.
With today's release, there's a new tier of Google One service called the AI Premium plan, which costs $20 per month; subscribe and you'll get the standard Google One benefits, plus access to a new chatbot powered by the Gemini Ultra 1.0 model.
That $20 monthly fee is the same price OpenAI charges for access to its GPT-4 model via ChatGPT Plus. Google previously offered a chatbot known as “Bard,” but the company has renamed its AI offerings as “Gemini.” Don’t want to pay for your AI tools? Google continues to offer its more basic chatbot, the Gemini Pro model, for free.
While aspects of Google’s Gemini Ultra model were shown off months ago in sometimes questionable demos, the juiced up version was not made available to the public during Gemini’s initial rollout. Now the more capable version has arrived.
Gemini Advanced, similar to OpenAI’s GPT-4, may be better at understanding the nuance and context of user prompts. It should also perform better at jobs like writing code when compared to previous large language models. Gemini Advanced is currently just designed for answering prompts in English, but additional languages are expected to receive support with future iterations.
Curious about trying out Google’s latest chatbot and wondering how the subscription plan compares to ChatGPT Plus? Here’s everything you need to know about getting started with Gemini Advanced.
How to Access Google’s Gemini Advanced
Instead of offering access through a stand-alone subscription, Google is making Gemini Advanced available as part of a new tier for Google One called “AI Premium.” If you don’t already have a Google account, you’ll need to create one before signing up to use the chatbot. If you do already subscribe to a Google One plan, you'll be able to upgrade to the new plan that includes chatbot access. Check out WIRED’s guide to Google One for a deeper dive into what’s included with the different tiers.
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To upgrade to the new paid version of Gemini, make sure you’re logged into your Google account and go to the Gemini chatbot homepage. On the home screen for the AI tool, tap the hamburger icon in the top left corner. Then click Upgrade to Gemini Advanced. This will direct you to a new page to subscribe through Google One. The AI Premium plan currently costs $20 a month—Google offers a two-month free trial if you're unsure about it. Refresh your browser tab afterwards, and you’ll now see Gemini Advanced at the top of the page as your new, default chatbot experience.
Gemini Advanced is available through a smartphone app too, though Android owners are the first to receive access. Download the fresh Gemini app from the Google Play store to get started. On Android phones, you can also choose to switch your Google Assistant over to Gemini. Own an iPhone instead? You can still use Gemini Advanced through your mobile browser, but in-app access is not yet available. Rather than a custom app, Apple users can expect Google to release Gemini on iOS inside the standard Google app.
How does the subscription compare to what’s offered by OpenAI? With ChatGPT Plus, you get to use the impressive GPT-4 model and try out ChatGPT’s beta features before they are released to a wider audience. With Gemini Advanced, you get access to Google's latest AI model and new features as well as everything included with the Google One subscription. For $20 a month, you receive 2 terabytes of cloud storage, access to advanced photo editing features like Magic Eraser, and 10 percent back in credit for hardware purchases from the Google Store.
The company plans to roll out a Gemini integration with Gmail and Google Docs for AI Premium subscribers, but the exact release date for this feature is unknown. When WIRED previously tested Bard’s tricks in Gmail, the initial results were messy but showed promise. It will be interesting to see if a more powerful large language model improves the user experience of trying to find old emails in an overstuffed inbox.
Updated, February 8, 4pm EST: Added more upgrade guidance and context after the release of Gemini Advanced.
