Introducing Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar

What changed

Source summary

Google added Live Avatar to Gemini 3.8 Live, combining near-real-time video generation with speech synthesis so an animated avatar can hold natural conversations with synchronised lip-sync and expressions. It processes audio and visual input simultaneously, can run background tool calls without interrupting the conversation, supports 97 languages, lets organisations create branded avatars from reference images, and watermarks all output with SynthID. It is now available in Gemini Enterprise for use cases such as customer service and interactive walkthroughs.

Why it matters to your work

Practical interpretation

If your organisation uses customer-facing walkthroughs or support channels, this creates an AI avatar that can converse in real time with synchronised lip-sync and expressions across 97 languages. Available on Gemini Enterprise only, so most relevant if your org already has that plan.

When this could help

Useful for enterprises that want a visual AI persona for customer engagement, training delivery, or multilingual support, rather than voice-only or text-only interaction.

Gemini 3.8 Live with Live Avatar pairs near real-time video generation with speech, producing lip-synced animated characters that can listen, watch, and respond — supporting 97 languages with mid-conversation switching and background tool calls during conversation.

How to get started

1. Access Live Avatar through Gemini Enterprise's multimodal live console, or use the Live API documentation to integrate it into your application.

   Provider guidance ↗

2. Choose from preset avatars or, if your enterprise is allowlisted, create a custom avatar from a reference image.

   Provider guidance ↗

Build it into your routine

SCALA suggested workflow

1. Evaluate avatar suitability

   Before deploying a Live Avatar in a customer-facing or training context, test it in the multimodal live console with representative scenarios in each target language to assess lip-sync quality and response appropriateness.

What to check

• Custom avatars require enterprise allowlisting — not available to all Gemini Enterprise customers by default. Source ↗
• No latency figures or usage caps are stated on the announcement page. Pricing is not disclosed. Source ↗
• Output carries SynthID watermarks in audio and video for identity safeguarding. Source ↗