Google is targeting the biggest barrier keeping users locked into ChatGPT and Claude with a new migration tool that imports memories, preferences, and full chat histories into Gemini. The "import memory" feature, which started rolling out today for free and paid consumer Gemini accounts on desktop, lets users copy their personal context from competing AI assistants without starting from scratch.
Users access the tool through Gemini's settings on desktop, where they receive a prompt to paste into their current chatbot. That AI generates a preferences summary that can be imported back into Gemini.
This addresses what has become a significant switching cost in the AI assistant market. After weeks or months of use, these tools build detailed profiles of user preferences, habits, and conversation patterns.
Losing that accumulated context has forced many users to stick with their initial choice even when better alternatives emerge.
Google's move comes within weeks of Anthropic adding similar import capabilities to Claude, suggesting both companies recognize user lock-in as a key competitive advantage they need to dismantle. The timing positions Google directly against OpenAI's ChatGPT, which currently lacks comparable migration tools.
Beyond memory imports, Gemini now supports uploading entire chat histories via ZIP files up to 5GB. The system automatically organizes conversations so users can continue threads exactly where they left off with their previous assistant.
Imported chats can be deleted individually if needed. The tool has limitations, it cannot transfer project files, attachments, or AI-generated images, but it captures all prompts and responses from previous conversations.
To streamline the experience further, Google is renaming Gemini's "Past chats" section to "Memory," with that change appearing over the next few weeks.
First spotted in testing less than a week ago according to Android Police reports, the import feature represents Google's latest effort in what has become weekly feature rollouts for Gemini. The company has been rapidly improving its AI assistant since its launch earlier this year.
With this migration tool now available at no cost through standard Google accounts, the barrier between competing AI assistants has effectively been lowered.
