diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d093b4bc..e6ae3a2a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,4 +46,4 @@ https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/bundletool
 
 ## Releases
 
-Latest release: [1.17.0](https://github.com/google/bundletool/releases)
+Latest release: [1.17.1](https://github.com/google/bundletool/releases)
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 996134a8..fe59b282 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1 +1 @@
-release_version = 1.17.0
+release_version = 1.17.1
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifest.java b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifest.java
index d29b2cf2..4ca41388 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifest.java
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ public abstract class AndroidManifest {
   public static final String MAIN_ACTION_ELEMENT_NAME = "action";
   public static final String DATA_ELEMENT_NAME = "data";
 
+  public static final String APP_CATEGORY_ATTRIBUTE_NAME = "appCategory";
   public static final String DEBUGGABLE_ATTRIBUTE_NAME = "debuggable";
   public static final String EXTRACT_NATIVE_LIBS_ATTRIBUTE_NAME = "extractNativeLibs";
   public static final String ICON_ATTRIBUTE_NAME = "icon";
@@ -192,6 +193,7 @@ public abstract class AndroidManifest {
   /** <meta-data> name that specifies native library for native activity */
   public static final String NATIVE_ACTIVITY_LIB_NAME = "android.app.lib_name";
 
+  public static final int APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID = 0x01010545;
   public static final int DEBUGGABLE_RESOURCE_ID = 0x0101000f;
   public static final int EXTRACT_NATIVE_LIBS_RESOURCE_ID = 0x10104ea;
   public static final int REQUIRED_RESOURCE_ID = 0x0101028e;
@@ -373,6 +375,17 @@ public AndroidManifest applyMutators(ImmutableList<ManifestMutator> manifestMuta
     return manifestEditor.save();
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Extracts value of the {@code <application android:appCategory>} attribute.
+   *
+   * @return An optional containing the value of the {@code appCategory} attribute if set, or an
+   *     empty optional if not set.
+   */
+  public Optional<String> getApplicationAppCategory() {
+    return getApplicationAttribute(APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID)
+        .map(XmlProtoAttribute::getValueAsString);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Extracts value of the {@code <application android:debuggable>} attribute.
    *
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditor.java b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditor.java
index 1a4d13ef..2db7c243 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditor.java
@@ -207,6 +207,16 @@ public ManifestEditor setLocaleConfig(int resourceId) {
         LOCALE_CONFIG_ATTRIBUTE_NAME, LOCALE_CONFIG_RESOURCE_ID, resourceId);
   }
 
+  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
+  public ManifestEditor setAppCategory(String appCategory) {
+    manifestElement
+        .getOrCreateChildElement(APPLICATION_ELEMENT_NAME)
+        .getOrCreateAndroidAttribute(
+            AndroidManifest.APP_CATEGORY_ATTRIBUTE_NAME, AndroidManifest.APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID)
+        .setValueAsString(appCategory);
+    return this;
+  }
+
   @CanIgnoreReturnValue
   public ManifestEditor addMetaDataString(String key, String value) {
     return addMetaDataValue(
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/OptimizationDimension.java b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/OptimizationDimension.java
index 445b0c6f..39c34ed2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/OptimizationDimension.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/OptimizationDimension.java
@@ -23,5 +23,6 @@ public enum OptimizationDimension {
   LANGUAGE,
   TEXTURE_COMPRESSION_FORMAT,
   DEVICE_TIER,
-  COUNTRY_SET
+  COUNTRY_SET,
+  AI_MODEL_VERSION
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/version/BundleToolVersion.java b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/version/BundleToolVersion.java
index e29e4194..805bfd94 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/version/BundleToolVersion.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/version/BundleToolVersion.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
  */
 public final class BundleToolVersion {
 
-  private static final String CURRENT_VERSION = "1.17.0";
+  private static final String CURRENT_VERSION = "1.17.1";
 
 
   /** Returns the version of BundleTool being run. */
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidator.java b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidator.java
index 295dfbd2..a2c5a72c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidator.java
@@ -384,7 +384,13 @@ private static void validateNumberOfDistinctSplitIds(BundleModule module) {
 
   private static void validateAssetModuleManifest(BundleModule module) {
     ImmutableMultimap<String, String> allowedManifestElementChildren =
-        ImmutableMultimap.of(DISTRIBUTION_NAMESPACE_URI, "module", NO_NAMESPACE_URI, "uses-split");
+        ImmutableMultimap.of(
+            DISTRIBUTION_NAMESPACE_URI,
+            "module",
+            NO_NAMESPACE_URI,
+            "uses-split",
+            NO_NAMESPACE_URI,
+            "application");
 
     AndroidManifest manifest = module.getAndroidManifest();
     if (!manifest.getModuleType().equals(ModuleType.ASSET_MODULE)) {
diff --git a/src/main/proto/config.proto b/src/main/proto/config.proto
index 55539770..5f955a07 100644
--- a/src/main/proto/config.proto
+++ b/src/main/proto/config.proto
@@ -280,6 +280,7 @@ message SplitDimension {
     TEXTURE_COMPRESSION_FORMAT = 4;
     DEVICE_TIER = 6;
     COUNTRY_SET = 7;
+    AI_MODEL_VERSION = 8;
   }
   Value value = 1;
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifestTest.java b/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifestTest.java
index 886bf30c..7f9bb8df 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifestTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/AndroidManifestTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model;
 
+import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.APP_COMPONENT_FACTORY_ATTRIBUTE_NAME;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.APP_COMPONENT_FACTORY_RESOURCE_ID;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.AUTHORITIES_ATTRIBUTE_NAME;
@@ -149,6 +150,24 @@ public void hasMainActivity_definedAsActivityAlias_returnTrue() {
     assertThat(androidManifest.hasMainActivity()).isTrue();
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void getApplicationAppCategory_equalsGame() {
+    AndroidManifest androidManifest =
+        AndroidManifest.create(
+            xmlNode(
+                xmlElement(
+                    "manifest",
+                    xmlNode(
+                        xmlElement(
+                            "application",
+                            xmlAttribute(
+                                ANDROID_NAMESPACE_URI,
+                                "appCategory",
+                                APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID,
+                                "game"))))));
+    assertThat(androidManifest.getApplicationAppCategory()).hasValue("game");
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void getApplicationDebuggable_presentFalse() {
     AndroidManifest androidManifest =
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditorTest.java b/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditorTest.java
index 173f1ffb..c2a111bb 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditorTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/model/ManifestEditorTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.ALLOW_BACKUP_ATTRIBUTE_NAME;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.ALLOW_BACKUP_RESOURCE_ID;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.APPLICATION_ELEMENT_NAME;
+import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.APP_CATEGORY_ATTRIBUTE_NAME;
+import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.CATEGORY_ELEMENT_NAME;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.CERTIFICATE_DIGEST_ATTRIBUTE_NAME;
 import static com.android.tools.build.bundletool.model.AndroidManifest.DELIVERY_ELEMENT_NAME;
@@ -386,6 +388,21 @@ public void setVersionCode() {
                 ANDROID_NAMESPACE_URI, "versionCode", VERSION_CODE_RESOURCE_ID, 123));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void setAppCategory() {
+    AndroidManifest androidManifest = createManifestWithApplicationElement();
+
+    AndroidManifest editedManifest = androidManifest.toEditor().setAppCategory("game").save();
+
+    assertThat(getApplicationElement(editedManifest).getAttributeList())
+        .containsExactly(
+            xmlAttribute(
+                ANDROID_NAMESPACE_URI,
+                APP_CATEGORY_ATTRIBUTE_NAME,
+                APP_CATEGORY_RESOURCE_ID,
+                "game"));
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void setConfigForSplit() {
     AndroidManifest androidManifest = createManifestWithApplicationElement();
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidatorTest.java b/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidatorTest.java
index 1acb8395..3debc257 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidatorTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/android/tools/build/bundletool/validation/AndroidManifestValidatorTest.java
@@ -722,7 +722,7 @@ public void assetModule_noApplication_ok() throws Exception {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void assetModule_withApplication_throws() throws Exception {
+  public void assetModule_withApplication_ok() throws Exception {
     BundleModule module =
         new BundleModuleBuilder("asset_module")
             .setManifest(
@@ -730,13 +730,7 @@ public void assetModule_withApplication_throws() throws Exception {
                     "com.test.app", withOnDemandDelivery(), withApplication()))
             .build();
 
-    Throwable exception =
-        assertThrows(
-            InvalidBundleException.class,
-            () -> new AndroidManifestValidator().validateModule(module));
-    assertThat(exception)
-        .hasMessageThat()
-        .matches("Unexpected element declaration in manifest of asset pack 'asset_module'.");
+    new AndroidManifestValidator().validateModule(module);
   }
 
   @DataPoints("sdkMutators")