Google brings AI storytelling app Dreambeans to India
What's the story
Google has launched its experimental AI app, Dreambeans, in India. This is the first time the app is being made available outside the US. The move comes as part of Google's strategy to tap into India's massive internet user base and expand the reach of its innovative technology. The launch was announced on Monday with support for 13 Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali, among others.
App features
What is Dreambeans?
Launched in June, Dreambeans leverages information from connected Google services like Calendar, Gemini, Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube to create personalized illustrated stories about users' interests and day-to-day lives.
The app doesn't require any prompt from the user. Initially featuring static AI-generated illustrations, Google recently added a feature that uses its Veo video-generation model to animate images in select stories.
Market selection
Why did Google choose India for Dreambeans expansion?
Google chose India as the first international market for Dreambeans due to strong demand from Indian users and the popularity of its services in the country.
Gozde Oznur, a product manager at Google, said, "India stood out for its high overlap of users across Gemini, Gmail, and Google Photos."
Downloads of the app in the US have dropped significantly since launch, declining 84% month-on-month to about 5,500 in October.
Content creation
Limitations of the app
Unlike other general-purpose AI apps, Dreambeans focuses on creating personalized stories instead of answering a wide range of user queries.
Despite supporting many widely spoken Indian languages, users can only select one language at a time for their generated stories.
This limitation could restrict its appeal in India, where people often switch between languages like Hindi and English.
User control
Privacy concerns around Dreambeans
Dreambeans's reliance on information from users' Google accounts raises privacy concerns.
The app uses Google's Personal Intelligence technology to access connected services and customize its AI-generated stories.
However, users can choose which Google services to connect with Dreambeans and disconnect them at any time. They can also delete their data from within the app, ensuring a level of control over their personal information.