Google Opens Gemini and Search to More Apps With a New Connected Apps Platform

Summary

Google announced the Connected Apps Platform, a unified way for developers to bring their services into Gemini and Search. More than 50 third-party apps already work in Gemini, including Adobe, Dropbox, Instacart, OpenTable, and Ticketmaster, and a Calm integration arrives in the coming weeks. Existing connected apps will also come to Search, and developers can choose Search, Gemini, or both, with access opening in phases over the coming months.

Why it matters

In practice, you can ask Gemini to book a table, build a grocery order, or find tickets without leaving the chat. Expect the list of supported apps to grow now that the barrier for developers is lower.

HTD Says

Google is turning Gemini into a front door for the apps you already use, and the test is whether booking dinner by chat actually beats tapping through OpenTable yourself. Integrations are the name of the game for AI chats now. Any way an AI agent can reduce friction through 3rd-party integration is a win. And assuming there aren’t any pricing shenanigans compared with using the 3rd party directly. (Someone has to make money somehow.)

These are “simple” MCP (Model Context Protocol) connections, which are really the future. It’s like a connection standard mixed with an API (my loose definition). If you want to play in the AI space easily as a company, you need to have an MCP server.

I’m guessing people in charge of partnerships at companies and AI providers are extremely busy right now.

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Source:

9to5Google