A list of top AI tools describes one moment, because products are renamed, sold, or retired within a few years. Google renamed its Bard chatbot Gemini on February 8, 2024, IBM agreed on January 21, 2022 to sell the healthcare data and analytics assets of its Watson Health business, and Microsoft retired the standalone Cortana assistant in Windows in spring 2023. Each case shows why any tool list needs a date and a source.
Key takeaways
- Google's February 8, 2024 announcement renamed Bard as Gemini and turned Duet AI for Workspace into Gemini inside Gmail, Docs, Slides, and Sheets.
- IBM's January 21, 2022 release said the Watson Health sale would cover six named data and imaging product lines, while IBM stayed committed to Watson as a broader AI business.
- Microsoft's support page says Cortana as a Windows assistant ended in spring 2023, with other Cortana features retired in fall 2023 and June 2024.
- A tool name in an older list may point to a product that has changed owner, scope, or name.
Bard became Gemini: a rename in the office and consumer market
Google's announcement of February 8, 2024 stated that Bard would "simply be known as Gemini." The same post said Duet AI for Workspace, the add-on that offered writing and summarizing help in Google's office applications, became Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and other apps. A new Android app began rolling out that day, and iOS access was announced for the following weeks, starting in the United States in English.
For anyone reading a 2023 article about "the best AI writing tools for business," this matters in a practical way. Searching for Bard or Duet AI today leads to product pages under different names, and features described in 2023 may sit in different plans. The announcement is also a reminder that a name change can come with a change in what a subscription includes. Prices and plan contents shift often enough that this article leaves them out.
Watson Health: a healthcare AI line that was split up
Healthcare is the industry where AI tool lists in the early 2020s leaned most on one brand. On January 21, 2022, IBM announced a definitive agreement for Francisco Partners to acquire healthcare data and analytics assets that were part of Watson Health. The release named Health Insights, MarketScan, Clinical Development, Social Program Management, Micromedex, and imaging software offerings. Financial terms were not disclosed in the release, and the sale was expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
IBM's release also said the company remained committed to Watson as its broader AI business, and to its healthcare IT clients and partners. IBM's annual report on Form 10-K for 2023 confirms that the divestiture of its healthcare software assets in 2022 affected that year's results. A reader comparing a pre-2022 list of healthcare AI tools with the products sold today therefore needs to check which company now owns each product, since the Watson name and the sold assets are no longer the same thing.
Cortana: an assistant that was withdrawn in stages
Microsoft's end-of-support page for Cortana sets out a staged shutdown. The standalone voice assistant in Windows was retired in spring 2023. In fall 2023, Cortana was also removed from Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams displays, Microsoft Teams Rooms, Outlook mobile, and the Microsoft 365 mobile app. In June 2024, Outlook mobile dropped voice search and its feature for reading emails aloud.
The staging explains why two articles can disagree about whether Cortana still works. One may describe the Windows app, and the other the Outlook feature. Dates attached to each claim resolve the conflict, which is the reason this article gives a date for every change.
Three changes side by side
The table summarizes the three cases. The right-hand column is a reading aid written for this article, not a statement from any of the companies.
| Product | Area | What changed | Date | What an older list may get wrong |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bard and Duet AI | Chat and office software | Renamed Gemini, with Workspace features moved under the same name | February 8, 2024 | Product names, app locations, plan contents |
| Watson Health data and imaging products | Healthcare data | Sale to Francisco Partners agreed | January 21, 2022 | Owner, support contact, relationship to IBM Watson |
| Cortana | Voice assistant | Retired in stages | Spring 2023 to June 2024 | Whether a feature exists at all |
Checks to run on any list of AI tools
- Find the publication date, then the date of the newest fact in the piece.
- Look up each product's current name and owner on the vendor's own support or investor pages.
- Treat price and plan statements as expired unless a date appears beside them.
- Ask whether a ranking states its method. Rankings without a method, a sample, or a measure cannot be checked.
- For regulated work such as health care, confirm whether the product is covered by the rules of the regulator in that field.
This article does not rank any tool. It reports three documented product changes drawn from company announcements, a support page, and an annual report, and it makes no claim about quality, fit, or results in any industry. Statements about products are accurate as of the sources named below and can change.
FAQ
Is there an official ranking of AI tools by industry?
None was found for this article. Government surveys count how many firms use AI in each sector, but they do not rank products, and company announcements describe their own products only.
Why do older AI tool lists mention products that no longer exist?
Companies rename, sell, or withdraw products, as the Bard, Watson Health, and Cortana cases show. Lists are rarely updated after publication.
Did IBM stop working on Watson after the 2022 sale?
The January 21, 2022 release said IBM remained committed to Watson as its broader AI business. The sale covered named healthcare data and analytics assets, not the whole Watson brand.
Does renaming a product change what it does?
Not necessarily. A rename can come with new features, new plans, or a different model, so the vendor's current documentation is the safer reference.
Related reading
- Another look at AI tools across industries
- How AI apps are described and judged
- Reported benefits of AI to industry
- Which industries may keep human-led work
More in AI Tools and Industry.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Bard becomes Gemini: Try Ultra 1.0 and a new mobile app today, Google, February 8, 2024
- Francisco Partners to Acquire IBM's Healthcare Data and Analytics Assets, IBM Newsroom, January 21, 2022
- Annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2023, International Business Machines Corporation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2024
- End of support for Cortana, Microsoft Support, 2026