Google Assistant Might Be Rebranded As 'Bard' Ahead Of Its Android Launch: Report

Google Assistant, the tech giant’s AI-powered virtual assistant, is reportedly set to undergo a rebranding, being renamed as ‘Bard’ ahead of its launch on Android.

What Happened: 9to5Google reported on Thursday that before its release on Android, the company is reportedly considering dropping the “Assistant” title and rebranding it as “Bard.” Google announced the upcoming launch of “Assistant with Bard” for 2024 during the Pixel 8 event.

According to the report, the latest version of the Google app (15.2) has seen a significant change in the naming convention. The term “Assistant with Bard” has been replaced with just “Bard.” This suggests that Google is moving away from the “Assistant with Bard” branding for its next-gen voice offering. Additionally, “Bard” is now referred to as a “digital assistant,” indicating a shift from just another version of Google Assistant.

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Notably, the modifier “classic” is no longer used to refer to the old Google Assistant, further supporting the rebranding.

An email sent by Benzinga has yet to elicit any response at the time of publishing this article.

Why It Matters: The rebranding of Google Assistant to “Bard” comes after a series of updates to the AI-powered virtual assistant since its launch in Feb. 2023. In a post on the Bard subreddit, a product manager asked users for their wishlist for Bard in 2024, with many requests for features like integrating Bard into the Assistant for all devices. This feature was already being worked upon, as announced by Google during the Pixel launch in Oct. 2023.

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