Google is retiring Gemini’s Gems, the feature that let users build custom AI assistants for specific tasks. The company says existing Gems will be automatically migrated to a new format called “skills” that can be used across different AI tasks. A message in the Gemini app warns that the transition begins November 17, 2026, and that Gems will remain usable until then. Users do not need to do anything to preserve their work.

Gems launched in 2024 as a way to avoid repeating instructions for recurring tasks. Google offered pre-made Gems such as a learning coach, brainstorming assistant, career guide, coding partner, and editor, while users could create their own, like a running coach, nutritionist, or vacation planner. Custom Gems could also be shared with others, part of Google’s effort to make the Gemini app more popular.

The shutdown is framed as another example of Google giving new AI features their own brand names, icons, and prominent navigation placement, only to shuffle or merge them later. The article notes that even after migration, former Gems will not be as consumer-friendly as plain chatbot text input; users will have to type a forward slash “/” in a task thread to select the desired skill, an interface more suited to engineers than general users. The winding down of Gems was first reported by 9to5Google.