Just a week after announcing Gemini, Google flipped the switch: on December 13, 2023, Bard started running on Gemini Pro instead of their older PaLM model.

The improvement was immediate and noticeable. Bard suddenly felt competitive with ChatGPT in ways it hadn't before.

What Changed

Better reasoning: More logical, coherent responses Improved coding: Actually useful for programming tasks Faster responses: Snappier performance Better instruction following: Did what you asked more accurately

Bard went from "Google's rushed ChatGPT competitor" to "genuinely useful AI assistant."

Still Free

The killer feature: Gemini Pro in Bard remained completely free.

ChatGPT required Plus subscription ($20/month) for GPT-4. Bard with Gemini Pro was free for everyone.

For users who couldn't or wouldn't pay, this was huge.

Where Are They Now?

Bard was rebranded to "Gemini" in February 2024, and Gemini Advanced ($20/month) was introduced for Gemini Ultra access.

But Gemini Pro remains free, making powerful AI accessible to anyone.

December 13, 2023 was when Google finally delivered on their AI promise—a year late, but genuinely good.