Google’s AI product names are confusing as hell

Google executives took the stage this week at I/O to unveil their latest AI technology: Deep Think. Or was it Deep Search? Then there's the new subscription plan, Google AI Pro, which used to be Gemini Advanced, plus the new AI Ultra plan. Then there's Gemini in Chrome, which is different from AI Mode in search. Project Starline is now Google Beam, there are Gems and Jules, Astra and Aura… you get the idea. The products overlap in confusing ways, the naming conventions are diabolical, and I'm begging Google to return some semblance of sanity to its product line before we all lose our DeepMinds.

In Google's defense, at least we're not calling any of these things Bard. That was Google's original name for its AI chatbot during the Great Chatbot Rush of 2023. OpenAI shipped ChatGPT, and apparently Google decided it had to ship something before there was time to consider not naming it Bard. The company corrected that mistake and went with Gemini, folding in Duet along the way. This was all a very good idea.

This week's Google I/O made it clear that the naming conventions are out of control again. There's Gemini 2.5 Pro Deep Think, which is designed to reason through complex math and …

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