According to code spotted by Android Authority, Google's Gemini artificial intelligence assistant will soon be able to say “hello” to users directly through messaging apps and notifications. Upcoming Gemini extensions will further expand the options for connecting Gemini AI to existing services, on top of the initial options like Google Flights, Hotels, Maps, Workspace, YouTube, and YouTube Music.
The extensions are a way to give Gemini access to real-time personal data and improve its response to requests. The code points to a list that adds not only first-party text messaging tool Google Messages, but also third-party WhatsApp. Clearly, Google doesn't intend to keep Gemini in-house.
The Google Messages extension will apparently let you read and reply to messages using Gemini voice commands, not too different from how Google Assistant works, but will likely have the same flexibility in languages and phrases as Gemini. The WhatsApp extension will include the same functionality, but will add the option to ask Gemini to make calls from the app.
The final new enhancement dug out of the code is for Android notifications, which appear to let you create a lot more notifications than the list shown on screen. Gemini will organize them based on what it learns is important to you, and it can even summarize missed notifications if you have a lot of them or if the alerts are related in some way. This makes Gemini a decidedly more proactive assistant than Google Assistant.
Gemini Jump Start
As Google continues to raise expectations for Gemini's features, it's worth noting how much pressure the company is facing from a tsunami of upgrades from its biggest rivals. Apple is expected to introduce new Apple Intelligence features for Siri that will debut with the iPhone 16 series this year, and Amazon's plans for an AI update for Alexa are already largely clear.
Google wants people to treat Gemini not just as a toy or a reinvention of Google Assistant, but as a part of their lives in every sense of the word. From that perspective, incorporating WhatsApp and its vast global user base makes a lot of sense. But if Gemini is truly going to become the go-to AI assistant, Google will likely face a battle on two fronts: a mobile and voice AI race with companies like Apple and Amazon, and a more online-focused battle to capture the same users that OpenAI, Microsoft, and independent AI services are chasing.
