As all-in-one AI agents like Meta’s Muse and Instinct become more popular, Google has announced that it is shutting down its Gemini feature, known as “Gems,” which allowed users to build custom AI assistants for specific tasks. However, the work the user has put into creating the gem will not be destroyed. Gems are automatically transferred into “skills” that can be used across different AI tasks.
Details of the changes have been shared on the Gemini app, which will display a message alerting users that gems will become skills starting November 17, 2026. The company says it will migrate Gems to the new format and users won’t need to do anything to make the transition. Until then, the gem itself can still be used.
Launched in 2024, Gems aimed to teach AI to perform specific tasks without users repeating instructions. For example, some of Google’s off-the-shelf Gems included Learning Coach, Brainstorming Assistant, Career Guide, Coding Partner, and Editor. Users can also create Gems to suit their needs, such as running coaches, nutritionists, and vacation planners. These custom assistants can also be shared with other users, which Google hoped would make the Gemini AI app even more popular.
The news of Gems’ closure is another example of why Google shouldn’t immediately give every new AI feature its own brand name, icon, and prominent position within the app’s navigation. Especially if you take the time to shuffle things around and integrate one feature into another. (To be clear, this has been a failing of Google’s strategy long before the AI era; at one point, for example, the company was running multiple different messaging and communication apps at the same time.)
But even when viewed as a skill, the former Gems aren’t consumer-oriented, like just typing text into a chatbot like Meta’s Muse. Instead, Google points out that you need to type a slash “/” in the task thread to select the skill you want to use. This is the user interface that engineers tend to prefer, not the average person.
The Gems reduction was first reported by 9to5Google over the weekend.
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