Google phasing out Gemini's Gems, replacing them with 'skills'
Google is discontinuing Gemini's Gems feature, which let users build custom AI assistants for specific tasks, and will automatically convert existing Gems into reusable 'skills' instead.
Google has announced it is shutting down Gems, the Gemini app feature that allowed users to create custom AI assistants tailored to specific tasks. A notice inside the Gemini app warns users that starting November 17, 2026, Gems will be transformed into a new format called 'skills.'
According to Google, none of the work users put into building their Gems will be lost, since existing Gems will be automatically migrated to the new skills format without any action required from users. Gems will remain fully usable up until the transition date.
What Gems were
Launched in 2024, Gems were designed to let people teach their AI assistant how to handle particular tasks without repeating the same instructions every time. Google had offered several pre-built Gems, including a learning coach, a brainstorming assistant, a career guide, a coding partner and an editor. Users could also build their own Gems for personal needs, such as a running coach, a nutritionist or a vacation planner, and could share them with other users.
A pattern of shuffled branding
The shutdown is being viewed as another example of Google's habit of giving new AI features their own distinct branding, icon and prominent spot in app navigation, only to later merge them into something else. This tendency reportedly predates the AI era, having also shown up in Google's history of running multiple overlapping messaging apps simultaneously.
Even under the new skills format, the feature won't be as simple to use as typing plain text into a chatbot. Users will need to type a forward slash '/' within a task thread to select which skill to invoke — an interface more suited to technically inclined users than average consumers. The wind-down of Gems was first reported over the weekend by 9to5Google.
