Google retires Gemini Gems for Skills starting November 17
Google will begin automatically migrating Gems, its custom task-specific Gemini assistants, into a new “skills” format on November 17, per an in-app notice reported by TechCrunch and 9to5Google. Existing Gems keep working until each one migrates, and skills are invoked with a ”/” in the prompt box, letting several run in the same task. Skill creation is currently limited to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers through the Gemini Spark tab; Google’s notice does not say whether free-account users, who have always had Gems, will retain any custom-assistant capability once their Gems convert. The notice’s own “Learn more” link and “Create skills” button were not yet functional as of publication, per 9to5Google.
Why it matters: Google is folding its free, all-users custom-assistant feature into a subscriber-gated one just as rival all-in-one agents from Meta push the other way, and it hasn't said what free users keep.
Via TechCrunch AI ↗
Posted to the wire September 28, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.