From Engadget · Steve Dent · · 1m 40s
Google's new AI avatars may soon handle your customer service
Google has added video avatars to Gemini 3.8 Live, creating AI agents designed for sales and customer support roles.
In brief
Google has added video avatars to Gemini 3.8 Live, creating AI agents designed for sales and customer support roles. Google launched Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar, pairing video to AI dialogue models to create avatars for customer service and sales, available now to enterprise customers. Originally reported by…
Google launches advanced live dialogue models
Last week Google launched Gemini 3.8 Live and Live Extended Thinking models, described as the company's most advanced live dialogue models yet, designed for developers and enterprises building voice agents.
Google adds video avatars to Gemini
Google has now added video to Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar, pairing near real-time visual presence to the live dialogue models, creating an experience that listens, sees and speaks with a dynamic visual persona.
Avatars designed for business support roles
These avatars are designed to do things like sales support and customer service, so users may be interacting with them in the near future through computer or phone screens.
Avatars feature natural communication abilities
Google shows both realistic and cartoon-like avatars capable of precise lip-syncing, natural expressions and fluid turn-taking, allowing them to communicate using facial expressions while looking, listening and speaking.
Customization and safeguards for enterprises
Google offers a library of preset avatars or organizations can customize their own from high-quality reference images. Each avatar is watermarked using Google's SynthID to keep AI-generated content transparent and respect identity.
Live Avatar available to enterprise customers only
Live Avatar is designed strictly for Google's Gemini Enterprise customers, though the avatars may appear in customer service or sales roles soon, though people's distaste for AI slop may limit their popularity.
The one thing
Google launched Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar, pairing video to AI dialogue models to create avatars for customer service and sales, available now to enterprise customers.
