Gemini Live, Google's answer to ChatGPT Voice, has finally launched, allowing both iOS and Android users to have “free, hands-free conversations” with the AI chatbot

The feature, announced at the “Made by Google” event, is just one of several changes designed to make Gemini a more powerful assistant and easier to use

Examples of uses for Gemini Live presented by Google include brainstorming ideas, discussing meal options, or as a “buddy in your pocket” that can chat about any topic at any time and interrupt when the response becomes boring uses, and so on

Gemini Advanced subscribers on Android phones will initially be available only in English, with more languages, locations, and iOS support coming “in the coming weeks”

According to Google, 10 new voices to choose from, the ability to connect to more apps on the device, and extended plug-ins from apps like Keep, Tasks, and YouTube will also be available soon to allow for more features [Gemini Live was first unveiled at Google I/O earlier this year, offering the ability to have live conversations with the powerful Gemini chatbot; similar to OpenAI's GPT-4o Voice, it can use natural language, interrupt AI, or challenge AI with complex queries It is capable of

The launch of the voice assistant was an inevitable next step after Google began replacing its assistant with Gemini on Android devices

This is a voice-only version of Gemini Live, but Google plans to add full multimodal capabilities later this year Once launched, users will be able to open their phone's camera and show the AI the world while interacting with Gemini

According to Google, Gemini's flow can be interrupted in mid-sentence, which is one of the biggest new features of OpenAI's Advanced Voice

The ability to interrupt, the company says, allows users to “dig deeper into a particular point or pause the conversation and come back to it later”

As of today, Gemini Live is available to English-speaking Android users who also have a Gemini Advanced subscription It is a premium version of the AI available with a Google One subscription and is free for the first year on the Pixel 9 series

If you already have Gemini installed, you only need to pay $19 per month to access Gemini Advanced, and nothing additional is required However, the language must be set to English

Google promises that further language options and an iOS version of the app will be available in the coming weeks