
Google's AI Naming Madness: Can It Get Any More Confusing?
2025-05-22
Author: Yan
In a whirlwind unveiling at this week’s I/O, Google showcased a barrage of AI products that left many scratching their heads. Deep Think? Deep Search? Brace yourself for Google AI Pro, which has apparently morphed from Gemini Advanced, alongside the elusive AI Ultra plan. And don’t forget Gemini in Chrome—distinct from AI Mode in search. If that wasn’t enough to tip your sanity, Project Starline has rebranded to Google Beam, not to mention the curious cast of characters: Gems, Jules, Astra, Aura… Is anyone else feeling lost?
In Google’s defense, at least we can all breathe a sigh of relief that none of these are still called Bard. That name was originally gracing their AI chatbot during the 2023 Chatbot Rush. As rivals like OpenAI launched ChatGPT, Google rushed in with something hastily named Bard. Thankfully, they gave it a makeover, settling on Gemini and blending in Duet.
However, this week’s I/O made it abundantly clear that Google’s naming game is spiraling out of control once again. Enter Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think, a product geared towards tackle complex math and coding conundrums. Then there’s Deep Search, a key player in the shiny new AI Mode for Google Search. Want more? Search Live lets you point a camera at something and ask it questions—don’t mix it up with Gemini Live, which does the exact same thing. Is Google Lens even relevant anymore?
Now let’s throw Veo into the mix, an image-generation model, along with Flow, an AI video editing tool, and Flow TV—your go-to for witnessing bizarre AI-generated videos. Meanwhile, we have Vertex, Lyria, and Imagen, which sound suspiciously like a list of baby names from a decade ago. And just when you think you’ve wrapped your head around Gemini’s many variants, there’s also Project Astra, another multimodal AI assistant that’s still locked away.
Then there’s Project Mariner, designed for browsing websites, which has personal implications for this Mariners fan, especially after Google demonstrated it by snagging tickets to a Cincinnati Reds game—a bizarre choice indeed!
I can empathize with Google amidst this chaos. They’re trying to innovate and market groundbreaking tech in real-time. As CEO Sundar Pichai noted, the pace of product releases is 'relentless'. With competitors like OpenAI and Meta breathing down their necks, they might not have the luxury of time to come up with catchy names.
Yet, this resembles a familiar Google quirk: distinct teams working on similar technologies without proper communication. This oversight led to a slew of chat apps with only minor variations or seemingly infinite ways to utilize AI for mundane tasks—like finding your next pair of shoes. Spoiler alert: Google is eager to assist!
The irony? This is Google we’re talking about—the very name synonymous with searching for information. A brand that has turned into a verb, as recognizable as 'Kleenex'. But today, as I sift through press releases detailing new AI features, I find myself struggling to discern which belong to Gemini, what Project Mariner entails, and how Astra connects to Lens. At this point, the only option seems to be: just Google it!