Project Astra: Google announces the imminent arrival of its all-seeing AI assistant

The Astra Project was unveiled during the conference Google I/O 2024where Sundar Pichai, CEO of the Californian company, highlighted his vision of the future: creating “experiences” where AI can “see and reason about the world around us”. A whole program, illustrated by an exciting video demonstration. Initially planned for the end of 2024, its launch now seems to be postponed to 2025, with Google wishing to perfect this technology to offer reliable and intuitive real-time interactions.

This project aims to make smartphones, or connected glasses that Google is developing right now, real multimodal AI assistants. By integrating image recognition and advanced analytics capabilities, Astra could, for example, identify the neighborhood the user is in or diagnose objects, such as a damaged mechanical part, via the camera.

A future still unclear

Currently available on all Android devicesGemini Live allows users to interact with an AI for general information. However, it does not yet support advanced applications or integration features such as access to calendars or emails. The camera, essential to the Astra concept, has not yet been integrated, which limits the scope of interactions for the moment.

As Gemini evolves, the Mountain View firm also appears to be testing its first integrations into flagship products like Gmail, Maps and YouTube. This roadmap gives hope for significant updates for 2025.

Astra's potential is not limited to visual and contextual information. Google plans to develop AI agents capable of carrying out tasks independently, such as booking flights or purchasing products. However, these functions require fully developed AI to guarantee absolute precision and security in decision-making.

A major challenge in the face of growing competition

The delay in Astra's deployment raises the question of the technical challenges of creating multimodal AI operational in real time. Google is not alone in encountering obstacles: Anthropic, for example, is also struggling to finalize AI agents for similar tasks, although its model is in an advanced phase. These difficulties show that, even for tech giants, transforming prototypes into everyday products is a complex task.

Financially, Alphabet, Google's parent company, posts strong results for the third quarter of 2024, with a turnover of 88.27 billion dollarsan increase of 15% compared to the previous year. This growth is supported in part by interest around the series Pixel 9which integrates the Gemini Nano AI model and received a favorable reception… before the arrival of Astra?