How Google's AI model Gemini got its name

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Gemini got its first mention at I/O in 2023, when we briefly shared our first natively multimodal model was in training and already showing impressive capabilities. One year later, we’ve brought Gemini models to Search, Ads, Workspace, Pixel and more. As Gemini continues to make a name for itself, we wondered, where did that name come from? To find out, we asked the Google DeepMind team to share the origin story behind why they called it “Gemini.” By Ari Marini.

Early on, a placeholder title for the project was “Titan,” the name of Saturn’s largest moon. “I wasn’t a huge fan of that name,” says Jeff Dean, Gemini’s co-technical lead. But it gave him an idea — or perhaps a sign — for a name grounded in space. Developed by DeepMind and Google Brain teams, Gemini aims to advance AI research.

Gemini is Latin for “twins.” In astronomy, it’s the name of a constellation associated with Greek mythological twins Castor and Pollux, for which its two brightest stars are named. Naturally, then, the meaning behind our AI model’s name is two-fold. For one, a key characteristic of the Gemini zodiac sign is a dual-natured personality, capable of adapting quickly, connecting to a wide range of people, and seeing things from multiple perspectives — themes well suited for what was happening at Google at the time.

“The Gemini effort came about because we wanted to bring our teams working on language modeling closer together,” Jeff says. “I felt the twins aspect of the name ‘Gemini’ was a great fit. The twins here are the folks in the legacy Brain team and the legacy DeepMind team, who started to work together on this ambitious multimodal model project.” The other inspiration for the name is also space-related: NASA’s early moonshot program, Project Gemini, which lasted from 1965 to 1968. Interesting read!

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