So did I. I know Gemini the protocol exists, but the reality is, in almost every context "Gemini" is so much, much more likely to refer to Google's LLM that I'm taken aback when it doesn't.
They were thinking of Google Gemini, not Gemini (protocol), the latter which, although being the older, might have to consider a name change to escape a slow death after Google's hostile name-takeover.