The original Google Assistant (launched in 2016) was based on a simple principle: command and execution. It was a master at running scripts.

• “Set the timer for 10 minutes.”
• “Play music on Spotify.”

The problem? It didn’t understand the world. It only understood keywords. As soon as a question became more complex or required context (“Do you remember the restaurant my brother recommended last week?”), the old Assistant hit a wall.

The turning point: With the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs) in 2023 and 2024, user expectations changed dramatically. We no longer wanted to dictate; we wanted to converse. Google realized that the Assistant’s old code base was incapable of providing this cognitive flexibility. It had to die so that Gemini could live.

The transition was anything but smooth at first. Many users will remember 2024, when Google began pushing Gemini on smartphones.

• The latency problem: Initially, Gemini took too long to do simple things like turn on the lights because the request had to be routed through massive cloud models.
• Loss of functionality: Popular, niche Assistant features (like certain routines or third-party integrations) suddenly stopped working.

But today, at the end of 2025, the situation has changed dramatically. Thanks to more powerful NPUs (Neural Processing Units) in modern smartphones (like the Pixel 10 series) and optimized “Gemini Nano” models, most standard commands run locally and lightning fast. The gap between “intelligence” and “speed” has closed.

The crucial difference between the outdated Assistant and today’s AI standard is multimodal context.

If you look at your phone today and say, “What kind of building is that over there, and is it still open?”, the AI ​​(Gemini) analyzes the camera image, recognizes your location, checks the opening hours, and answers in context. The old Assistant would have simply given you a list of Google search results for the word “building.”

In the smart home, the end of the Assistant means we no longer have to speak like programmers:

• Old: “Hey Google, turn the living room lights down to 50% and play the Jazz playlist.”
• New (2025): “I’m in the mood for a relaxing evening, make it cozy.” – The AI ​​understands the intention, dims the lights, selects suitable music, and might even lower the blinds.

A Look Back: The Legacy of the Assistant

Should we be sad? A little nostalgia is allowed. The Google Assistant made voice control accessible to the masses. It was reliable in its simplicity. There was a time when we knew exactly what it could and couldn’t do. But the tech industry never stands still. The Assistant was a tool of “Web 2.0″—a voice interface for Google Search. Today’s system is an agent. It doesn’t just execute; it plans and acts proactively.

The term “Google Assistant” might still pop up here and there in old settings menus, but as a product, it no longer exists. It has been absorbed. The end of Google Assistant marks the moment when computers ceased to be rigid machines and began to truly understand us.

It wasn’t a death by failure, but by obsolescence. We traded the Assistant for a partner.