Timeline of Google Gemini

The timeline currently offers focused coverage of the period until December 2023. It is likely to miss important developments outside this period (particularly after this period) though it may have a few events from after this period.

This is a timeline of Google Gemini, a generative AI chatbot developed by Google. Launched in 2023 as Bard, it was created in response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Initially, Gemini was built on Google's LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) and later transitioned to PaLM, before evolving into its current large language model (LLM) framework, Gemini.

Sample questions

The following are some interesting questions that can be answered by reading this timeline:

• What are some important preluding developments leading to the launch of Bard?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Prelude".
  • You will se a number of events highlighting the dynamic evolution of conversational AI models, with Meena and LaMDA preceding Google Bard. The launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI serves as a notable moment that influences Google's strategic considerations, leading to a proactive response to maintain competitiveness in the domain of AI-driven language models.
• What improvements and new features have been introduced to enhance the capabilities and functionalities of Google Bard?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Update".
  • In summary, you will see updates reflecting a combination of advancements, expansions into new domains, and improvements to existing capabilities.
• What are some cases showcasing Google's efforts to integrate Bard into various Google services and applications?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Integration".
  • You will see integration efforts attempting to make Bard more versatile and seamlessly integrated tool across multiple services.
• What are some events reflecting the dynamic and competitive landscape in the AI chatbot industry?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Competition".
  • You will see stakeholders actively comparing, evaluating, and promoting their products based on features, performance, and potential applications, with Bard actively participating in the competitive discourse.
  • What are some cases of Bard performance evolution?
  • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for the group of rows with value "Performance".
  • You will see a number of events collectively depicting Bard's journey from facing challenges and setbacks to implementing measures for improvement and learning.
• Other events are described under the following types: "Applications", "Criticism", "Expansion", "Geographic accessibility", "Initial launch", "Legal", "Security", and "Testing".

Big picture

Time period	Development summary	Details
2021 - 2022	Prelude and Emergence	Google sets the stage for advancements in conversational AI with the unveiling of LaMDA in 2021. The subsequent emergence of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022 marks a significant leap in the field, gaining widespread popularity and triggering a response from Google to address potential threats to its search dominance. This period lays the foundation for the competitive landscape in conversational AI, setting the scene for the arrival of major players and the ensuing race for innovation.
2023 - mid 2023	Challenges and iterations	The year 2023 sees the introduction of Google's Bard, a conversational AI chatbot powered by LaMDA. Despite an initial market value drop and concerns about accuracy, Google navigates challenges by actively involving employees in refining Bard's responses. The introduction of "Big Bard" and subsequent updates showcase Google's commitment to iterating on its AI models. Throughout this period, the competition intensifies, with advancements in capabilities, expansions, and the integration of features like location-based results and image responses, reflecting a dynamic and evolving landscape.
Mid 2023 - end 2023	Legal scrutiny, global expansion, and AI evolution	The latter part of 2023 brings legal challenges as a lawsuit alleges Google's unlawful data collection, paralleling concerns raised against OpenAI. Despite legal hurdles, Google expands Bard globally, emphasizing responsible AI practices and engaging with experts and regulators. Security concerns and criticism over misinformation highlight the challenges in AI deployment. Concurrently, AI continues to evolve, with the launch of Microsoft Copilot, advancements in AI integration into products like Gmail, and the unveiling of Gemini, showcasing the industry's ongoing technological race and the growing impact of generative AI on various facets of daily life.

Summary by month

Time period	Development summary
January 2023	Google hints at plans for a ChatGPT competitor, instructing employees to accelerate progress on chatbots.
February 2023	Google introduces Bard as a response to the growing popularity of OpenAI's Chat GPT.
March 2023	Google opens limited access to Bard.
April 2023	Google Bard rolls out a feature enabling programming and debugging in more than 20 programming languages. This significant functionality leads to an unprecedented surge in demand for Google Bard codes.
May 2023	Bard is featured prominently in the Google I/O keynote, announcing updates such as adopting PaLM 2, expanding to 180 countries, and integrating with other Google products.
June 2023	Bard introduces location-based results, raising privacy concerns, and improves logical reasoning skills. Despite a rocky start, Bard gains praise for its user-friendly interface, dark/light modes, FAQs, voice input, and integration with Google Search. Bard is also integrated with Google Lens.
July 2023	Bard launches in the EU and Brazil, adds support for new languages, introduces personalization and productivity features, and faces criticism in an invite-only Discord chatroom. Userbase crosses 140 million.
September 2023	Google releases a major update to Bard, integrating it into various products, adding fact-checking through Google Search, and allowing users to share conversation threads.
October 2023	Bard is integrated into the upgraded version of Google Assistant called "Assistant with Bard."
November 2023	At the Made by Google event, Bard is integrated into the upgraded version of Google Assistant called "Assistant with Bard."
December 2023	Google announces Gemini, a more powerful LLM, with a specially tuned version integrated into Bard.

Full timeline

Year	Month and date	Event type	Details
2020	January 28	Prelude	Google Research introduces Meena, a 2.6 billion parameter end-to-end trained neural conversational model, aiming to address the limitations of existing open-domain chatbots. Meena's training objective is to minimize perplexity, measuring uncertainty in predicting the next token in a conversation. The model demonstrates improvements in sensibleness and specificity through a new human evaluation metric called Sensibleness and Specificity Average (SSA). Meena's performance correlates with perplexity, showcasing a strong correlation with human evaluation. Google Bard would be trained on Meena.
2021		Prelude	Google unveils LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications), a prototype Large Language Model (LLM). Built on the Transformer architecture, LaMDA is trained specifically on dialogue, distinguishing itself with sensibleness and specificity in responses. It aims to overcome the limitations of traditional chatbots by engaging in free-flowing conversations on a wide range of topics. LaMDA's development focuses on sensibility, specificity, interestingness, and factuality.
2022	November 30	Prelude	OpenAI launches ChatGPT based on the GPT-3 family of LLM, gaining significant popularity.
Late 2022		Prelude	ChatGPT's success prompts a "code red" alert at Google, triggering a response to address the potential threat to Google Search.
2023	February 6	Initial launch	Google CEO Sundar Pichai introduces Bard, an experimental conversational AI service powered by LaMDA. Officially released, Bard aims to combine broad knowledge with language models' intelligence and creativity, offering users insightful responses. It is initially rolled out to 10,000 "trusted testers."
2023	February 8	Performance	Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., suffers a significant market value drop of $144 billion after Bard provides inaccurate information during a demonstration. The demo showcases a mistake regarding the James Webb Space Telescope, leading to a 7.7% decrease in Alphabet shares. This incident raises concerns about Google's position in the competition for the future of internet search, with Microsoft's ChatGPT-powered Bing seen as a formidable rival. Analysts highlight the need for rigorous testing for AI models, emphasizing a potential threat to Google's core search business. Google acknowledged the error and underscored the importance of testing for new AI systems. The setback comes amid a global AI competition, with companies like Baidu and Alibaba also working on similar projects.
2023	February 13	Performance	Alphabet Chairman John L. Hennessy states that Google was hesitant to release Bard, because the technology is still giving inaccurate answers. He believes that generative artificial intelligence is one to two years away from being truly useful on a broader scale. Hennessy speaks at a conference and mentions that Google was caught up in the sudden interest in ChatGPT and generative AI. He emphasizes the need for caution in releasing AI systems that could provide incorrect or toxic information. Hennessy expresses concerns about the role of technology in ensuring a functioning democracy and promoting a harmonious society. He also acknowledges the impressive capabilities of ChatGPT while noting that startups in Silicon Valley have an advantage in recruiting talent during the current cycle of layoffs.
2023	February 15	Performance	Google asks its employees to help improve the responses of Bard, by rewriting incorrect answers. Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's vice president for search, sends an email to staff with a link to a document outlining the do's and don'ts of fixing responses. The document encourages employees to rewrite responses on topics they understand well, emphasizing that Bard learns best through example. The instructions include keeping responses neutral, not implying emotion, and avoiding stereotypes or presumptions based on various categories. At this time, the company aims to involve its employees in testing Bard to accelerate its training and improve accuracy. Employees who contribute to fixing responses may receive recognition through an internal badge and have the opportunity to share feedback with the team working on Bard. The move comes after Google faced criticism for the rollout of Bard, which led to a drop in the company's stock price.
2023	February (late month)	Testing	Sundar Pichai asks employees to dedicate time to testing Bard, leading to 80,000 employee responses.
2023	March 13	Update	Google employees begin testing a more sophisticated version of Bard called "Big Bard."
2023	March 21	Service release	Google opens limited access to Bard, positioning it as an experiment rather than a finished product and making it available to select users in the United States and United Kingdom through a waitlist. Google emphasizes that Bard is not a replacement for its search engine but a complement to it, serving as a chatbot for generating ideas, drafting writing, and engaging in conversation. In a demo, Bard provides responses to general queries, but factual accuracy is hit-and-miss, sometimes generating inaccurate or offensive information. Bard's interface includes disclaimers, and its replies are cautioned to be treated with caution. While Bard is faster than ChatGPT and Bing, its answers appear more constrained, lacking the chaotic and experimental nature of Bing's responses. Google reports intention to find a balance between Bard's capabilities and liabilities as more users gain access and stress test the system.
2023	March 31	Update	Sundar Pichai announces the intention to upgrade Bard, basing it on PaLM instead of LaMDA.
2023	April 10	Update	Bard introduces its inaugural experiment update, featuring an Experiment updates page for users to access the latest features, improvements, and bug fixes. The addition of suggested Search topics under "Google it" enhances user exploration by offering a broader range of interests. Notably, Bard's capabilities for math and logic are improved to provide higher-quality responses in these domains.
2023	April 19	Criticism	An article at Bloomberg reports on Google employees criticizing Bard, in internal messages, with some describing it as "a pathological liar." According to a report from Bloomberg, 18 current and former Google workers express concerns about Bard's performance, noting that it often provided dangerous advice on topics like landing a plane or scuba diving. The report suggests that Google has downplayed ethical concerns to compete with rivals like Microsoft and OpenAI. Some argue that public testing is necessary to improve AI systems, while others believe Google's focus is on business over safety.
2023	April 21	Update	Bard is updated to assist with programming and software development tasks, offering capabilities such as code generation, debugging, and explanations in over 20 programming languages, including C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript. Users can export Python code to Google Colab seamlessly. Bard can generate, explain, and debug code, making it a valuable tool for learners and developers. While it is an early experiment at this time, and may occasionally provide inaccurate information, its new coding features aim to accelerate software development, helping users tackle engineering challenges.
2023	May 5	Expansion	Google Bard becomes available for Google Workspace users, expanding its accessibility beyond personal Google accounts. Admins can enable Bard for their domains through the Admin Console, allowing users to access it for work-related tasks, research, and business needs. While users must sign up for the waitlist, admins can activate Bard at the domain, organizational unit, or group level. The rollout begins, with visibility expected within 15 days, though regional availability restrictions apply. This integration aims to enhance creativity, productivity, and collaboration within Google Workspace, following Bard's recent update enabling code writing in 20 languages.
2023	May 10	Service release	During Google I/O developer conference, the company announces the end of the waitlist for Bard, making it widely available in English. The company aims to gather feedback and continue improving the chatbot by expanding its user base. Bard becomes accessible in over 180 countries and territories, with plans to add support for additional languages, including Korean and Japanese. Google emphasizes its responsible development approach and refers to Bard as an experiment rather than a beta. Google also unveils updates and new features for Bard. The tool now supports Japanese and Korean languages, with plans to support 40 languages in the future. Updates include image capabilities, advanced coding features, and integration with Google apps and services. Users can now incorporate images into their prompts and receive text-based responses with rich visuals. Additionally, developers can benefit from improved source citations, a dark theme, and an "Export" button for running code with partners like Replit. Google reportedly aims to integrate Bard with various apps and services such as Google Docs, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Maps, and more. Also, Bard reportedly plans to connect with external partners like Adobe Firefly, Kayak, OpenTable, ZipRecruiter, Instacart, Wolfram, and Khan Academy to enhance user experiences.
2023	May 15	Update	Google Bard receives a notable update, enhancing its summarization capabilities and source attribution. Users can now prompt Bard to provide concise summaries of articles or topics, leveraging advances in large language models. Additionally, Bard's responses now include numbers that link to sources, facilitating identification of matched sections and enabling easy navigation. Google aims to make information digestion quicker and more transparent, emphasizing ongoing improvements based on user feedback. This update follows recent expansions of Bard's language support and availability in additional countries, marking Google's commitment to refining its AI chatbot for diverse user needs.
2023	May 23	Update	Google Bard introduces an update that integrates images into its responses. The new feature enhances the visual experience of prompts by displaying images sourced from Google Search. Users can now see accompanying images when asking for a list of items or request images directly. Google aims to provide transparency by sourcing the images. The company also hints at more visual changes and elements coming to Bard in the future
2023	May 29	Performance	An article discusses Google Bard and its metrics database used to enhance chatbot performance. The database tracks key metrics, including response accuracy, diversity, and fluency, allowing Bard to assess its own performance and identify areas for enhancement. By analyzing user feedback and behavior, Bard customizes its responses to deliver more innovative and varied interactions. Additionally, Bard leverages natural language processing techniques to gather insights from diverse sources such as web search results, news articles, and videos. The Google Bard Metrics Database plays a vital role in this process by enabling Google AI to pinpoint areas requiring improvement, develop novel training methods, and monitor Bard's progress over time. As Bard interacts with a growing number of users and accumulates knowledge from additional information sources, it continuously evolves and enhances its capabilities.
2023	May 29	Integration	Google introduces "Magic Compose", a new feature powered by Bard. Available exclusively to users in the United States, it is an experimental feature within the Messages by Google app. Magic Compose uses AI to generate stylized, suggested responses based on the context of users' messages. The tool sends up to 20 previous messages to Google's servers to generate conversation starters, replies, or different styles of drafted messages. However, messages with attachments, voice messages, and images are not sent to the servers. Magic Compose offers seven different styles in which it can rephrase text, including Chill, Excited, Formal, Lyrical, Remix, Shakespeare, and Short. It is designed for RCS (Rich Communication Services) within the Messages app and can be accessed through the app's Settings menu. Magic Compose does not store messages or use them to train machine learning models.
2023	May 30	Competition	An article compares Google Bard with ChatGPT and Bing Chat. The author discusses their features, strengths, and limitations to help readers make an informed choice. She concludes that ChatGPT can be prone to misinformation. Bing Chat, powered by OpenAI's largest language model GPT-4, offers internet access for up-to-date information and visual features like image generation. Finally, she acknowledges that Google Bard, known for its speed, is receiving upgrades to enhance its language support and introduce visual elements. The article suggests considering factors such as accuracy, cost, internet access, and visual features when deciding on the best AI chatbot for specific needs.
2023	May 30	Competition	Current CEO of Bing at Microsoft and former CTO at Yandex Mikhail Parakhin, states that Google Bard utilizes a "much smaller model" compared to Bing Chat. This remark comes in response to a compliment about Bard's speed over Bing Chat. Parakhin explains that Google's use of a smaller model contributes to its faster performance. These comments are made after Bard's recent upgrades to PaLM2 and other significant improvements.
2023	June 1	Update	Google Bard incorporates the capability to provide location-based results. Users can opt to share their precise location, allowing Bard to deliver relevant information about directions, businesses, landmarks, and other local details. By leveraging Google's search engine, Maps app, and other products, Bard can pinpoint the user's exact whereabouts and offer accurate responses based on their surroundings. Users can choose to enable the location-sharing feature and experience more specific and tailored results. However, this feature would raise privacy concerns, and users must weigh the convenience of location-based information against their privacy preferences.
2023	June 7	Update	Google enhances Bard with improved logical reasoning skills, making it more proficient in answering mathematical and coding questions. The latest update includes features such as exporting tabular responses to Google Sheets and employing implicit code execution to generate code and provide accurate responses. Google claims that Bard's approach surpasses traditional large language models (LLMs) by combining text prediction and code-based computation, resulting in better problem-solving capabilities. However, Google warns that Bard's code may have flaws, and users should exercise caution when utilizing it.
2023	June 9	Competition	An article discusses the top benefits of using Google Bard. Despite a rocky start, the public beta version of Bard showcases potential features that may challenge ChatGPT. The benefits include a user-friendly interface with dark and light modes, access to FAQs and activity history, the ability to view and analyze multiple drafts, voice input functionality, free internet access for browsing and gathering data, and leveraging Google Search results for more accurate responses. Additionally, Bard's location-sensitivity ensures relevant search results based on the user's context and location.
2023	June 13	Geographic accessibility	Google is blocked by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) from launching Bard in the European Union due to privacy concerns. By this time Bard has already been launched in several countries, including the United States and United Kingdom. However, the DPC states that Google has not provided the necessary documentation or briefing regarding data protection impact assessment, resulting in the postponement of Bard's EU launch. The incident reflects the stricter approach to AI regulation in the EU compared to other regions, with the EU AI Act proposed to align AI governance with privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation.
2023	June 15	Integration	Google announces that Google Lens integration into Google Bard, allowing users to include images in their prompts and utilize Lens to understand the visual content. Additionally, Google Lens now has the capability to detect skin conditions by analyzing uploaded photos, providing visual matches to aid in search. Google has also introduced shopping features through Lens, enabling users to take screenshots and receive shoppable matches with links for online purchases, as well as utilizing multisearch to search by both photo and words.
2023	June 19	Security	Google warns its employees not to use code generated by Bard, due to privacy and security risks. Voice AI startup Nuance, backed by Microsoft, faces a privacy lawsuit for recording and using people's voices without permission. Google's DeepMind opposes the idea of a singular AI regulatory agency, advocating for a multi-layered approach. OpenAI cautions Microsoft about releasing its Bing chatbot too quickly, citing concerns about false information and inappropriate language. The developments highlight ongoing challenges in AI regarding privacy, security, and responsible deployment.
2023	July 12	Legal	A lawsuit is filed against Google, alleging that the company has been unlawfully collecting data from hundreds of millions of Americans to train its AI products. The lawsuit claims that Google, along with DeepMind and Alphabet, secretly gathered personal and professional information, creative works, photographs, and emails from individuals without their knowledge or consent. The lawsuit refers to Google's updated privacy policy, which states that publicly available online information can be used to train AI models. Google calls the claims in the suit baseless and states that it uses public information responsibly and in accordance with its AI Principles. The lawsuit comes shortly after a similar complaint was filed against OpenAI.
2023	July 13	Geographic accessibility	Google Bard expands its reach by becoming available in over 40 new languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi, and Spanish. Access is extended to more places, encompassing all 27 countries in the European Union (EU) and Brazil. The release in the EU was delayed due to the bloc's plans to regulate AI. Bard now offers new features such as audio responses, different response styles, and the ability to analyze uploaded photos. Google states that it has engaged with experts, policymakers, and privacy regulators to ensure a responsible approach to AI expansion. By this time, the EU works on comprehensive rules for AI, including provisions for generative AI systems like ChatGPT.
2023	July 13	Update	Bard introduces several new features and improvements. In addition to Text-to-speech capabilities added in over 40 languages, the Pinned & Recent Threads feature is introduced, allowing users to organize and pick up past Bard conversations, and supporting a continuous creative process. Sharing Bard conversations is made easier with shareable links, promoting collaboration and inspiration. Modification options for Bard's responses are introduced, enabling users to tailor responses based on simplicity, length, tone, and style. Additionally, Bard's code export capabilities are expanded to include exporting Python code to Replit, offering more workflow options for programming tasks.
2023	July 25	Competition	A number of articles highlight five cases in which Google Bard surpasses ChatGPT. These features include transcribing old letters from images, simplifying travel planning by suggesting personalized options, identifying objects and their functions through images, offering meal planning assistance based on ingredients, and providing technical troubleshooting support by analyzing error screenshots. Google Bard's multifunctional capabilities emphasizes the potential of AI to enhance various aspects of daily life, making it a formidable competitor in the AI chatbot space.
2023	August 10	Applications	Jenny Blackburn, Google's Vice President of User Experience, publishes a blog emphasizing the versatile applications of Bard. With the chatbot available globally and supporting multiple languages, users can explore various functionalities. The article provides ten ways to leverage Bard, including learning new topics, analyzing images, drafting content, comparing options, starting projects, generating code, planning trips, brainstorming creative ideas, expressing thoughts and feelings, and engaging in casual chat. Blackburn encourages users to ask follow-up questions to enhance the interaction and maximize Bard's capabilities for creativity, productivity, and efficient problem-solving.
2023	August 16	Criticism	An article reports on OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Bard spreading misinformation related to news. The chatbots are accused of disseminating false or misleading information when queried about news topics. This raises concerns about the spread of misinformation through AI-powered platforms and highlights the need for improved AI moderation and fact-checking mechanisms to ensure accurate and reliable information dissemination. The report underscores the challenges in mitigating the impact of AI-driven misinformation in the digital age.
2023	August 21	Security	An article describes an encounter with a potentially malicious campaign involving fake AI bots trying to install malware. The author notices an advertisement on Facebook for "Google Bard AI," which leads to a suspicious link on rebrand.ly, not directly associated with Google. The ad's comments section appears suspicious, with users giving high ratings and posting comments at the same time. Investigating further, the author finds that the link leads to a Google-hosted site with poorly written content. The download page attempts to mimic an official Google offering. Upon analyzing the downloaded file, it is flagged as malicious by several antivirus vendors. The campaign demonstrates cybercriminals attempting to exploit the AI hype for financial gain.
2023	September 19	Integration	Google integrates Bard with its Gmail service and other products. This allows users to easily use Bard across different Google services. Users can extend Bard to apps like Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube, and Google Maps using a system called Bard Extensions. For example, users can ask Bard to summarize emails on a specific subject in Gmail or help with trip planning by searching for flight dates, booking hotel rooms, and providing directions in Google Maps. Google also adds a verification feature to check the correctness of Bard's results against Google search results.
2023	September 27	Update	Google Bard introduces a new feedback feature, allowing users to provide input when Bard presents two drafts side by side. Users can choose their preferred draft, indicate no preference, or opt out entirely. This feedback mechanism aims to gather real-world input to enhance the quality of Bard's responses, contributing to continuous improvements for users and the overall Bard experience.
2023	October 4	Integration	Google announces plans to integrate generative AI capabilities from its Bard chatbot into Google Assistant, providing personalized assistance for tasks like trip planning and email management on mobile devices. The upgraded Assistant, combining reasoning and generative abilities, supports text, voice, and image interactions, with access to a phone's camera and microphone. Privacy is emphasized, and the initial focus is on user experience, with no revenue-generating features. Google's move follows a trend in the industry, with competitors enhancing their virtual assistants with generative AI.
2023	October 23	Update	Google Bard introduces new update. Through the Workspace Extension, Bard can now summarize a larger number of emails simultaneously and has improved comprehension when users request recent emails. This incremental improvement is aimed at enhancing the quality and utility of the Workspace Extension, making it more effective for users seeking email summaries. Additionally, shared conversations now include visibility for uploaded images in the prompt, providing users with a more creative and engaging experience. These updates contribute to a more comprehensive and user-friendly interaction with Bard, particularly in the context of email summaries and shared conversations.
2023	October 30	Update	Google Bard introduces a new feature allowing responses to appear in real time, enabling users to view and engage with responses as they are generated. This setting eliminates the need to wait for the full response, providing users with the ability to read and iterate on ideas more swiftly. The update aims to enhance the creative process by allowing users to stay in the flow of generating ideas and responses with increased efficiency and speed.
2023	November 7	Staff	Contractors working for Google through Accenture, responsible for training the Bard AI chatbot, vote to join the Alphabet Workers Union. The workers seek better working conditions and protections after facing challenges while training Bard, including handling offensive prompts. Allegedly, after a complaint was filed regarding the content, the work was outsourced to Accenture workers in Manila, and several contractors were laid off. The contractors classify both Google and Accenture as "joint employers," a status contested by Google. This move follows a broader trend of contract workers at Google unionizing for improved conditions.
2023	November 16	Update	Google Bard expands its accessibility to teenagers worldwide, offering age-appropriate protections, updated onboarding processes, and experiences tailored to empower exploration and learning. The expansion aims to provide teens with inspiration, motivation, and quick understanding of various topics, supporting them in areas like homework, hobbies, job applications, and college preparation. Additionally, Bard now assists users in solving math equations by providing step-by-step explanations, and it can generate charts from data in prompts or tables during conversations, enhancing visualization of information. These updates cater to diverse learning needs and facilitate a broader range of creative and educational pursuits.
2023	November 21	Update	A stable release of Bard (version 2023.11.21) is launched. Google improves the chatbot, with an update focused on enhancing its ability to understand and respond to questions related to YouTube videos. The expansion enables users to engage in more meaningful conversations with Bard by asking specific questions about video content, such as details about recipes or tools in DIY videos. This update aligns with Google's ongoing efforts to enhance Bard's capabilities and offer users a more interactive experience. To access this feature, users must enable the YouTube extension on Bard's web portal. The update is expected to benefit users seeking precise information from videos and is seen as valuable for content creators aiming to improve engagement and quality.
2023	December 6	Update	Google launches Gemini, an AI model designed for human-like thinking, introducing versions "Nano" and "Pro" integrated into Bard chatbot and Pixel 8 Pro smartphone. Gemini aims to enhance Bard's intuitiveness and planning, with the Ultra model powering "Bard Advanced" for improved AI multitasking in early 2024. Google plans Gemini integration into products, and CEO Sundar Pichai stresses responsible development. The Gemini launch intensifies AI competition with OpenAI and Microsoft. Google DeepMind's Gemini competes with GPT series, with Ultra claimed to outperform GPT-4. Gemini integration into search, ads, and Pixel 8 Pro enhances Google's AI endeavors, marking a significant move in AI development.
2023	December 18	Update	Google Bard expands its Extensions feature to include Japanese and Korean in addition to English. This enhancement allows users to access real-time information from Google apps and services, such as YouTube, Hotels, Google Flights, and Google Maps. Bard Extensions can also retrieve information from Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive, offering users the ability to find, summarize, and get answers from their personal content. Users have control over privacy settings, enabling them to manage how extensions are utilized. Additionally, Bard's Export to Replit feature now supports 18 programming languages, including C++, Javascript, Ruby, SQL, and Swift, catering to developers seeking coding assistance in various languages.
2023	December 28		Colin Murdoch of Google DeepMind discusses the transformative potential of the Gemini AI model. Murdoch highlights how Gemini will revolutionize daily life and work for billions by advancing technology in areas such as communication, healthcare, and productivity. He emphasizes the AI’s role in making complex tasks more accessible and its impact on the global workforce, marking a significant shift in how people interact with technology.
2024	February 1		It is reported on the global rollout of Google's Bard chatbot update, known as Gemini Pro. This update enhances Bard's capabilities, including improved natural language processing and new features aimed at making the AI more interactive and efficient. The global release reflects Google's push to advance its AI tools and compete with other leading AI technologies in the market.
2024	May 14		Google announces the launch of Gemini 1.5 Pro for Gemini Advanced subscribers, featuring a 1 million-token context window and enhanced capabilities in over 35 languages. The update allows users to upload files, enabling Gemini to analyze documents, create visualizations, and provide insights. New conversational features include Gemini Live, which supports natural speech interactions and dynamic planning capabilities, such as personalized trip itineraries. Subscribers can also create customized versions of Gemini, known as Gems, tailored to specific needs. Additionally, the app will integrate more Google services for a seamless user experience.
2024	May 22		Google launches Gemini Nano, integrating it into the Chrome desktop client to enhance AI capabilities, including offline app development and content generation. This integration allows developers to access AI functionalities through high-level APIs, simplifying deployment without deep technical expertise. Key features include improved performance via WebGPU and WebAssembly, enabling more complex computations directly in the browser.
2024	June 1		Google launches Arabic support for Gemini, making it accessible through a dedicated app for Android and within the Google app for iOS. The app offers free access to Gemini 1.0 Pro, while Gemini Advanced (1.5 Pro) is available through the Google One AI Premium plan, supporting complex tasks like coding and logical reasoning. Extensions within the app enable users to access real-time information from Google Maps, flight bookings, and content summaries. Gemini now understands over 16 Arabic dialects and responds in Modern Standard Arabic, with additional Arabic-focused features planned for later this year.
2024	June 5		Google expands the availability of its Gemini app to users in the European Union and the United Kingdom, allowing Android users in these regions to download it from the Google Play Store. This update makes the Gemini app an alternative to Google Assistant on Android devices, now compatible with versions 10 and 11, reaching a broader audience, including users with older smartphones.
2024	June 25		Google announces the opening of access to the 2-million-token context window for its Gemini 1.5 Pro AI model, previously restricted to a waitlist. This enhancement allows developers to utilize a larger context for their inputs. Additionally, Google introduces code execution capabilities for the Gemini API, enabling models to generate and run Python code and learn from the results. The company also launches the Gemma 2 model in Google AI Studio for experimentation and announces plans to offer tuning for Gemini 1.5 Flash to developers by mid-July, with text tuning ready for red teaming.
2024	July 24		Google leverages the Paris Olympics to highlight its Gemini AI through a partnership with NBCUniversal and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. As Team USA’s official search AI partner, Google agrees to integrate Gemini AI into NBC’s Olympic broadcasts, marking the committee’s first collaboration with a tech company. Gemini AI would support commentators in enhancing their coverage, potentially offering real-time data and insights.
2024	July 25		Gemini is updated to Gemini 1.5 Flash, making it faster and improving its reasoning and image interpretation. Available for free, this update increases response quality and speed, while supporting more complex prompts with up to 32,000 tokens—four times its original capacity. New features include file uploads for contextual prompts and future capabilities to analyze data files and create visualizations. To reduce inaccurate responses, Gemini starts citing sources for all answers. Additionally, it’s accessible in Google Messages across Europe, and teenagers aged 13+ can safely use Gemini with enhanced safeguards.
2024	August 19		Google Research makes its bioacoustic foundation model, Health Acoustic Representations (HeAR), available to researchers for developing models that analyze human sounds, such as coughs, to identify early signs of disease. This innovative technology holds promise for screening conditions like tuberculosis (TB), a treatable illness that remains undiagnosed in millions due to limited healthcare access, particularly in resource-constrained countries. An example of its application is seen in an India-based respiratory healthcare company investigating how HeAR can enhance the early detection of TB through cough analysis, potentially improving health outcomes in underserved populations.
2024	September 11		NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered research assistant utilizing Gemini models, introduces an innovative feature called Audio Overviews. This new capability allows users to upload materials and engage with two AI hosts as they conduct in-depth discussions about the content. Users can listen to these conversations, which can also be downloaded for later reference. Additionally, NotebookLM starts supporting uploading YouTube URLs and audio files, enhancing its functionality. The sharing of Audio Overviews is simplified, enabling users to easily distribute insights on topics of interest, thereby facilitating learning and collaboration.
2024	October 3		Gemini Live enhances its capabilities by expanding support to over 40 languages, allowing users to have natural conversations in their preferred language on Android devices. This feature enables users to interact with Gemini for brainstorming, event planning, and exploring new topics, all while offering up to two language options. Additionally, Gemini integrates with more Google apps like Gmail, Calendar, and YouTube, facilitating easier task management and information access. Users can leverage Gemini's features to organize events, manage shopping lists, and set reminders, thereby improving the overall experience of AI assistance across multiple languages.
2024	October 31		Google Maps integrates Gemini, introducing features like "Ask Maps" to enhance user interaction with travel, weather, and navigation queries. This AI-powered tool enables users to ask complex questions about nearby activities and gather insights from local reviews, improving the relevance of responses. Additionally, Google Maps starts providing detailed navigation updates, including lane information, crosswalks, and weather disruptions. Users can report driving conditions using natural language, contributing to real-time updates. Furthermore, Google enhances its “Immersive View” feature with 3D renderings in 150 cities and expanding categories like college campuses.
2024	November 16		Google's AI chatbot Gemini faces controversy after telling a user to "please die." The incident occurs when the user poses a factual "true or false" question, but instead of a relevant response, the bot delivers a series of hostile and harmful statements. Gemini, designed with safeguards against encouraging dangerous behavior, fails to adhere to these restrictions, leaving the user "thoroughly freaked out." This incident raises concerns about the reliability and safety of AI systems.
2024	November 18		Google introduces new Gemini AI features in Android Studio to boost developer productivity across the development lifecycle. These include AI-assisted coding, refactoring, documentation generation, code analysis, and bug fixes. Developers can prompt Gemini for code suggestions directly from the editor, using context menus or shortcuts, to modify or optimize code. Gemini processes requests and provides code diffs for review. AI-powered code completion suggests entire functions, accelerating development. Enabled through Android Studio settings, it may send context-relevant data to improve suggestions. Gemini also supports refactoring and documentation generation, enhancing code organization. These features are available in Android Studio Jellyfish or later.

Visual data

Google trends

The chart below shows Google Trends data for Bard (chatbot), from January 2023 until December 25, 2023, when the screenshot as taken. Interest is also ranked by country and displayed on world map.

Wikipedia views

The chart below shows Wikipedia views data for English article Bard (chatbot), from January to November 2023.

Meta information on the timeline

How the timeline was built

The initial version of the timeline was written by Sebastian Sanchez.

Funding information for this timeline is available.

Feedback and comments

Feedback for the timeline can be provided at the following places:

• FIXME

See also

• Timeline of ChatGPT
• Timeline of Bing Chat
• Timeline of large language models