Bubble Characters App: Google Drops Plans To Launch AI-Powered Mobile Chatbot App Targetting Gen Z Users, Says Report

San Francisco, July 12: Google has dropped plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mobile chatbot application specifically designed for Gen Z users, featuring interactive digital characters. The company was working on 'Bubble Characters' app, however it recently “deprioritised” those plans amid an internal reorganisation, according to materials seen by CNBC.

When a product gets deprioritised at Google, the development work on it ceases. According to internal documentation, the Bubble Characters app featured "a choice of a talking digital character that would interact in conversations with Gen Z users," the report said. Google’s AI Search and Bard Chatbot Are Open to Public, but Are Quite Different; Learn the Difference Between the Two and How To Use Them.

The tech giant had been working on this app since quarter four (Q4) of 2021. The app’s description mentioned that it featured “human-like” conversations that “take action” and are “interesting for GenZ.” Large language models—massive data sets used to understand and produce human-like text—powered the conversations.

“What started out as something from a science fiction novel, became the next generation of human-level conversation,” the app’s description read. "Within the Assistant organisation, which works on virtual assistant applications or two-way conversations for a variety of platforms, executives have prioritised ChatGPT-competitor Bard amid an internal reorganisation that included the departure of a few key executives," the report said. Bard Feature Update: Google's AI Chatbot Will Now Offer Improved Summaries With Sources.

Before Bard's release, some members of the Bubble Characters team were asked to take a break from working on the Gen Z app to work on Bard.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 12, 2023 10:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).