When it comes to AI chatbots, there is currently a battle for consumer attention. All the major chatbot providers are looking to increase their user numbers, and in a small coup for Google itself, it has made it very easy for users of other chatbots to defect to Gemini.
The company announced Thursday what it calls a “switching tool.” It’s a new widget designed to allow users to transfer “memories” (essentially chunks of personal information) or entire chat history from other chatbots directly to Gemini. The company says this allows users to easily share “key preferences, relationships, and personal context.”
The idea is to make adoption of Google’s AI assistant much easier, since users won’t have to spend a lot of time retraining Gemini about who they are and what they want.
The memory function works as follows. Gemini suggests prompts that users can type into their current chatbot, and then generates responses that can be copied and pasted into Gemini. In this way, Gemini helps educate users about what kind of information would be useful to know about them, while also making it easier to submit that information to their own archives.
“When you import these memories, Gemini will understand the same important facts you’ve shared with other apps, like your interests, siblings’ names, and where you grew up,” the company says. “Instead of starting from scratch, you can immediately let Gemini know what’s most important to you.”
Regarding importing chat history, Google says that all you need to do is upload your chat history in a zip file. Exporting chat logs from most chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Claude, in zip format is relatively easy. This allows users to “seamlessly pick up where they left off,” the company says. Google says users can also search for old chats.
ChatGPT remains a big kahuna in the consumer chatbot market, with OpenAI announcing last month that it had reached 900 million weekly active users. Gemini lags behind in consumer mindshare despite significant distribution advantages from Google, including being placed by default on Android devices and the Chrome browser. Last month, during Alphabet’s fourth-quarter earnings call, the company shared its own numbers, announcing that Gemini now has more than 750 million monthly active users. This move is clearly aimed at helping Google catch up.
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