Google launched its big AI-fueled redesign of Google Home late last year, and it’s been adding features here and there ever since. Today, the company announced a big update that may fix some of your smart home issues. The camera feed will be easier to navigate, and AI event labeling should be more straightforward. The move to Gemini 3.1 for home voice assistance should also mean the robot is less vague and more reliable.
According to Google, Home users who have signed up for the Early Access channel should already have the Gemini 3.1 update. Google initially released this AI model on other platforms in February, but that rollout did not include Google’s smart speakers. With the expansion to Home, Google says those speakers will be able to take advantage of Gemini 3.1’s “advanced logic to better interpret and execute complex, multi-step voice commands.” Of course, it says something like this with every Gemini update.
Google has cited various AI evaluations that show Gemini 3.1 is better at parsing large, complex signals. It showed advantages in tests such as the ARC-AGI-2 and the Humanities Last Exam, both of which require difficult reasoning problems that require domain-specific knowledge. It’s unclear how much a smart speaker adept at short conversations would benefit from such a capability, but you can have longer conversations with the Gemini on your smart home devices if you want. Google notes that the improved model can process multiple different tasks in a single prompt, allowing you to avoid splitting tasks into multiple commands.
With this update, the AI-powered Ask Home feature is expanding beyond the app. In the near future, a Home-specific Gemini chatbot will be available in the Home web interface, which will allow you to check camera history and create automations through conversation. However, this will start as a preview feature.
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