Google brings more AI to navigation with 'Ask Maps' feature that lets users ask complex questions

Google is adding its Gemini AI technology to a new feature in its maps app, as the company pushes its artificial intelligence tools deeper into its expansive product portfolio.

The new button called “Ask Maps” will feature a chatbot that allows users to ask complex questions outside of the typical navigation topics, Miriam Daniel, a vice president at Google Maps, said in a blog post Thursday.

Users can now ask questions like, “My phone is dying — where can I charge it without having to wait in a long line for coffee?” or “Is there a public tennis court with lights on that I can play at tonight?”

The results are personalized based on prior searches and saved trips in Google Maps, “making it easy to turn plans into action,” the company said.

“Google Maps is fundamentally changing what a map can do,” the company said in the blog post. “By bringing together the world’s freshest map with our most capable Gemini models, we’re transforming exploration into a simple conversation and making driving more intuitive than ever with our biggest navigation upgrade in over a decade.”

Google is adding more AI to its maps service as part of a broader effort to differentiate Gemini from potential competition and to keep users on its products for longer.With more than 2 billion monthly users, Google Maps, which turned 20 last year, is the world’s top navigation app.

Ask Maps starts rolling out Thursday in the U.S. and India on Android and Apple’s iOS, with desktop coming soon, the company said.

In a briefing with reporters ahead of the announcement, Google staffers said the company isn’t including ads in the feature but isn’t ruling out the possibility for the future.

“Right now, we are very focused on launching this for our users and providing a great experience,” said Andrew Duchi, a director of product management at Google.

Google Maps makes money primarily byselling advertising and promoted placements to businesses. It also charges companies for access to its Maps APIs and location data.

Google doesn’t break out revenue from maps, which has historically been one of the search giant’s most under-monetized products, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowaktold CNBC. The unit has been trying to increase revenue, including by licensing new sets of mapping data for companies to use as they build products around renewable energy.

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