In brief: Google is reportedly pursuing a generative AI trend that other companies have been doing for a while now: chatbots based on celebrities or fictional characters. The company is already in talks with celebs and social media influencers to secure deals that will allow their personalities to be used in the feature, which could launch sometime in 2024.
The chatbots will be powered by Google's Gemini family of large language models, according to The Information's report. There's no word on who the virtual celebrities will be based on.
This has all been done before, of course. Meta has been trying to increase engagement with its social media platforms since last year by offering chatbot personalities based on Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, and Paris Hilton, as well as TikToker Charli D'Amelio and YouTube star Mr. Beast, among others.
Before Meta joined the party, Character.AI was allowing people to create their own chatbots based on real and fictional people, offering users the chance to converse with a simulated Elon Musk, Hamlet, Mario, and more. Google will also allow people to create their own chatbots by describing their appearances and personalities.
There are still plenty of unknowns here. While Google could eventually integrate the service into products such as YouTube or Google One, there's a possibility that it could be limited to Google Labs, home of its experimental products.
It's not too clear why Google is doing this, given that Meta's experiment hasn't exactly been successful. The Information notes that Meta's Snoop Dogg chatbot has only 15,000 Instagram followers, a fraction of the 87.5 million who follow the real rapper.
While it sounds similar, the feature is said to be different from Google Gems, which allows users to customize a Gemini chatbot with personalities and abilities. Google says Gemini Advanced subscribers can create any Gem they dream up: a gym buddy, sous chef, coding partner, or creative writing guide. Setting them up involves describing what you want the Gem to do and how you want it to respond.