Google is quietly pausing the Ask Photos search feature

Google is temporarily pausing the rollout of its new AI-powered Ask Photos feature within Google Photos.

“Ask photos isn’t where it needs to be in terms of latency, quality, and UX,” wrote Jamie Aspinall, Product Manager for Google Photos. “Rollout has been paused at very small numbers while we address these issues.” Aspinall also wrote that the tech giant will ship out an improved version in approximately two weeks with a more improved version, bringing back a search similar to how it was initially.

The feature is currently powered by Gemini’s most capable model, and The Verge points out that it is a version specifically designed for Ask Photos and will only be used there.

This isn’t the only search feature change coming to Google Photos. Google also announced that the keyword search will improve and allow users to find exact matches within “filenames, camera models, captions, or text within photos.” Users will also be able to search without quotes to find visual matches.

This isn’t the first time Google has paused the launch of an AI-focused product to correct issues. Famously, the company paused the rollout of its AI overview feature after it began giving wrong and bogus answers, such as putting glue on pizza and claiming that Barack Obama was the first Muslim President of the U.S.

Source: Jamie Aspinall via The Verge