Google Deprecates Gemini Gems to Automatically Migrate Them into Skills

Google announced that it will deprecate Gemini's custom AI assistant feature, Gems, on November 17, 2026. All existing user-created Gems will be automatically migrated into a new "Skills" format that can be invoked across various AI tasks. This shift reflects Google's effort to consolidate its AI capabilities amid growing competition from proactive all-in-one AI agents like Meta's Muse. However, it also underscores a familiar product management pattern at Google, where standalone features and brands are launched quickly only to be later rebranded or merged. Users can continue using Gems normally until the transition deadline without needing to perform manual conversions. Under the new system, users will invoke Skills within chat threads using a slash command ('/'), an interaction style that favors technical users over general consumers.