A Gemini-boosted Google Assistant is now available on some Nest speakers

Google has slowly started rolling out a Gemini-powered Google Assistant to some Google Home users on select Nest smart speakers. The company first teased a smarter Google Assistant for the home in August and is starting with Gemini-powered answers to your general knowledge questions. The regular Google Assistant will still handle things like smart home and music requests, but you’ll hear a chime before the Assistant responds with an AI-powered answer.

As detailed by Google in a new support document, Gemini in Google Assistant on Nest speakers (that’s a branding delight right there) can answer wider-ranging questions with more in-depth answers — similar to Gemini on Android and iOS. You can also ask it follow-up questions and interrupt the response to ask another question, although you’ll still need to say “Hey Google” each time.

First spotted by 9to5Google, the Gemini-enhanced Assistant began appearing on speakers earlier this month. However, it’s only available on Nest Audio and Nest Mini (2nd gen) smart speakers — Nest smart displays or earlier generations speakers aren’t compatible. The AI-powered answers are also only open to users in Google Home’s Public Preview, who are also Nest Aware subscribers and who have opted in to Experimental AI features. However, that last option isn’t available to everyone in the Preview.

As detailed in this support document, if you’re selected to use Experimental AI features, you’ll receive a notification in your Google Home App inbox. This will let you toggle on an Experimental AI features button to start testing Gemini-powered Google Assistant.

While it’s a very limited rollout, Google is still the first of the big three tech companies to publicly launch new, generative AI-powered features on its voice assistant in the smart home. After loudly launching its smarter Alexa last year, Amazon has yet to deliver on it, and Apple has been conspicuously silent about a smarter Siri for its smart home.