Google is shutting down Gems, the Gemini feature that let users build custom AI assistants for specific tasks, and migrating everything into a new 'Skills' system. The Gemini app now shows a notice: Gems in personal accounts will convert to Skills starting November 17, 2026, with Workspace accounts following in March 2027 and education accounts in June. The rollout begins sooner: Skills start reaching Workspace customers on October 5, 2026, and the Gemini app follows on October 13.

Launched in 2024, Gems let users preset Gemini's behavior and instructions — Google shipped premade Gems like learning coach, brainstorming assistant and career guide, and users could create and share their own. The new Skills system saves frequently used prompts similarly, but with a wider scope: users type '/' in Gemini chat to invoke a skill, combine multiple skills in one conversation, and Gemini can auto-apply relevant ones.

Google says existing Gems will be automatically migrated so users don't have to rebuild anything, and Gems stay usable until the conversion. It echoes OpenAI's decision to retire custom GPTs in favor of plugins and skills — the era of branded 'custom bot' features is giving way to composable agent primitives.