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Google is planning to update Assistant with features powered by generative AI, according to a report from Axios<\/em><\/a>. In an email obtained by the outlet, Google tells staff members that it has already started exploring a \u201csupercharged\u201d Assistant powered by the newest large language models (LLM), similar to the technology behind ChatGPT and Google\u2019s own Bard chatbot. According to the email, \u201cA portion of the team has already started working on this, beginning with mobile.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As part of this change, Google says it\u2019s condensing the team that works on Assistant. The email obtained by Axios<\/em> states that the company is \u201celiminating a small number of roles,\u201d although it\u2019s unclear how many employees are affected. According to Axios<\/em>, Google laid off \u201cdozens\u201d of workers. The Verge<\/em> reached out to Google to confirm this, and we\u2019ll update this article if we get more information.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to explore how LLMs can help us supercharge Assistant and make it even better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe remain deeply committed to Assistant and we are optimistic about its bright future ahead,\u201d Peeyush Ranjan, the vice president of Google Assistant, and Duke Dukellis, the company\u2019s product director, write in the email.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While Google doesn\u2019t elaborate on what kinds of features it plans on bringing to Assistant, there are some pretty big possibilities. For example, Assistant could tap into the same technology that powers its AI chatbot, Bard<\/a>, possibly allowing it to answer questions based on the information it gleans from across the web. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cHundreds of millions of people use the Assistant every month and we\u2019re committed to giving them high quality experiences,\u201d Google spokesperson Jennifer Rodstrom says in a statement to The Verge<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to explore how LLMs can help us supercharge Assistant and make it even better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s still not clear when Google plans on bringing this technology to its smart home products, though \u2014 and I don\u2019t think a lot of people (myself included) would be entirely comfortable with that, given the potential privacy implications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n