Google launched an AI Vulnerability Reward Program, offering up to $30,000 for finding critical flaws in its AI systems, and introduced CodeMender for automated security patches.

Google has started rolling out Gemini Go, a lighter version of its Gemini AI assistant built for entry-level Android phones. The rollout began in early June 2026. It replaces Assistant Go, the stripped-down helper that has shipped on budget devices for years.

Gemini Go runs on Android (Go edition), the slimmed-down version of Android that Google makes for phones with limited memory and storage. To get it, a phone needs at least 2GB of RAM. That has been the minimum for Go edition devices since Android 13, so a large pool of phones already qualifies. On these devices, Gemini Go arrives inside the Google app, with no separate download. You launch it by pressing and holding the Home button, or the Power button on supported phones.

This matters more here than in most markets. Android Go powers a big share of the cheapest phones on sale, the kind that go for well under KES 13,000 from brands like itel, Tecno and Infinix. For many first-time buyers, that phone is their only computer. Until now, those users were stuck with Assistant Go, a basic command-follower. Gemini Go gives them a conversational assistant that can handle natural questions instead of rigid phrases. We already mapped out the best phones you can buy in Kenya for under KES 10,000, and most of that list runs exactly this class of software.

On capability, Google lists a familiar set of tasks. You can ask Gemini Go to call or text a contact, set an alarm, or create a calendar event. You can check the drive time to work, or ask layered questions such as finding a restaurant open at a set time near a set place. You can upload documents and photos to give it more context for a chat. You can also ask it to play music by mood or activity, like quiet acoustic songs for a dinner. Google says the experience is more conversational than Assistant Go, though it did not share screenshots at launch.

Gemini Go is the budget end of a much larger move. Google is retiring Google Assistant across phones, tablets, watches, headphones, cars and smart speakers, and swapping in Gemini. Full Gemini already took over on flagship phones through 2025 and into 2026. The company first wanted the whole switch done by the end of 2025, then pushed the deadline into 2026 to smooth things out. Reaching 2GB phones closes one of the last big gaps.

The open question is performance. Android Go exists because the hardware struggles with full Android. Putting a heavier AI assistant on a 2GB phone raises a fair worry about speed and smoothness, and Google has not published benchmarks for Gemini Go. The rollout is also gradual, so even an eligible phone may not see it for weeks.

The practical step is simple. Open the Play Store, update the Google app, then long-press the Home or Power button to check if Gemini Go has reached your phone. If it has, you get a smarter assistant at no extra cost. If it feels sluggish, that is the trade-off Google is asking budget users to accept.