Illustration: The Verge

Google is planning to update Assistant with features powered by generative AI, according to a report from Axios. In an email obtained by the outlet, Google tells staff members that it has already started exploring a “supercharged” Assistant powered by the newest large language models (LLM), similar to the technology behind ChatGPT and Google’s own Bard chatbot. According to the email, “A portion of the team has already started working on this, beginning with mobile.”

As part of this change, Google says it’s condensing the team that works on Assistant. The email obtained by Axios states that the company is “eliminating a small number of roles,” although it’s unclear how many employees are affected. According to Axios, Google laid off…

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