Since its unveiling at Google I/O 2024, Project Astra—Google DeepMind’s ambitious vision for a universal AI assistant—has been quietly evolving. Initially released to a select group of trusted testers on Android devices, Astra’s real-world development has been shaped by valuable user feedback, with a focus on practical use, safety, and ethical considerations.

Gemini 2.0 Powers Major Upgrades

The latest version of Project Astra is now built on Gemini 2.0, Google’s advanced multimodal AI model. This upgrade brings a suite of new capabilities and improvements:

Enhanced Multilingual Dialogue

Project Astra now supports conversations in multiple languages and even mixed-language exchanges. Its understanding of diverse accents and rare words has been significantly improved, making interactions more natural and inclusive for users worldwide.

Smarter Tool Integration

With Gemini 2.0, Astra can seamlessly access and use Google Search, Lens, and Maps. This integration transforms Astra from a simple chatbot into a genuinely helpful assistant, capable of providing information, visual analysis, and navigation support in real-time.

Improved Personalization and Memory

Astra’s memory has been extended to 10 minutes of in-session recall, and it can remember more details from previous conversations. Importantly, these memory features are designed to keep users in control, ensuring privacy and transparency while enabling more personalized and context-aware assistance.

Near-Instant Response

Thanks to new streaming and native audio processing capabilities, Astra now understands and responds to spoken language with latency comparable to human conversation. This leap in responsiveness makes interactions feel more natural and fluid.

Expanding to New Devices and More Testers

Google DeepMind is not stopping at smartphones. The team is working to bring Astra’s capabilities to other platforms, including the Gemini app and even prototype smart glasses. A small group of testers will soon begin using Project Astra on these glasses, exploring new ways to interact with AI in everyday life.

Research and Responsible Innovation

As a research prototype, Project Astra represents Google DeepMind’s exploration of what the future of universal AI assistants could look like. The ongoing Trusted Tester program is expanding, allowing more people to help shape Astra’s development and inform its responsible deployment.