Google is shutting down its Gemini custom AI assistant feature known as Gems, migrating them automatically to a new format called skills starting on November 17, 2026. The transition ensures that work invested by users in creating Gems will not be lost, and the existing custom assistants will remain fully usable until the shutdown date.
Launched originally in 2024, Gems allowed users to build and share custom AI assistants for specific tasks such as coding, brainstorming, and editing without repeating instructions. Despite their utility in making the Gemini app more popular, Google is moving away from the standalone branding in favor of skills, which users will select by typing a forward slash in a task thread.
This shift highlights Google's ongoing habit of rebranding and reshuffling features over time rather than maintaining distinct product identities. While the change preserves user work through automatic migration, the new interface design leans toward engineering preferences rather than seamless consumer accessibility.
This strategic product pivot matters because it reshapes how millions of users interact with custom AI assistants within the Gemini ecosystem, signaling a broader shift in Google's application interface design.