Google takes Dreambeans to India in bid to bring AI-generated personal stories to the masses

What happened

Google expanded Dreambeans to India on Monday. The app works on Android and iOS phones. It supports 13 Indian languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali, as well as English. The launch came less than two months after Google opened the app to all eligible U.S. users aged 18 and older.

Key numbers

• Dreambeans had nearly 55,000 downloads in the U.S. since its June debut, based on estimates from Sensor Tower.
• About 63% of those downloads came in September, when the app opened to all eligible U.S. users.
• Downloads fell 84% from September to about 5,500 in October.
• In its first 30 days after opening to all U.S. users, Dreambeans had about 29,000 downloads. Meta's Muse had 7.4 million, and ChatGPT had 2.8 million in their first 30 days.

What Dreambeans does

Dreambeans was introduced in June. It uses data from Google services such as Calendar, Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube. It then creates illustrated stories about a user's interests and daily life. Users do not need to type a request. The app first made still pictures. Google later added a feature that uses its Veo video tool to animate some stories.

Why it matters

Google chose India because many users there want the app and use Google services a lot. Still, the app has limits. It cannot yet mix languages, and many Indian users switch between Hindi and English. The app also uses personal data from Google accounts, which raises privacy questions. Google says users can choose which services to connect, delete their data, and ask the app to avoid some topics.

What to watch

• Whether Dreambeans can mix languages such as Hindi and English.
• Whether downloads in India grow faster than the drop-off seen in the U.S.
• How Google handles memories that may upset users, such as stories about people who have died.