Pixel 8 Pro lifestyle image
Google touted its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro devices as the “first AI smartphones.” The troublesome second album will be the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro, but recent details discovered in Google’s code reveal new AI tools focused on both performance and privacy.
Importantly, many of the latest AI tools implemented in Pixel 9 are handled on the Pixel smartphone itself. This includes text-to-image conversion, text synthesis, editing, and AI-based queries and discussions.
Details of the processing location are as follows: @AssembleDebugHe took a closer look at Android’s AI core components referenced in Google’s Messages beta. They find calls to AI-based routines for OCR, TEXT_TO_IMAGE, and QUESTION_TO_ANSWER.
AI, especially generative AI, requires significant processing power. Older mobile phones rely on cloud-based services, which require user data to be sent to the cloud. The current generation of AI-focused smartphones has split their feature set, with some work performed in the cloud and some work performed on the device. The latter means sending personal data, such as videos, to the cloud, but this raises concerns about personal data, which is driving the move to on-device AI.
Recent chipsets from Qualcomm, Snapdragon, and Mediatek include dedicated hardware for AI routines, helping the broader Android ecosystem. Google is taking similar steps with its Tensor Mobile chipsets for the Pixel 6, Pixel 7, and Pixel 8 families. That continues with Pixel 9. Next-generation chipsets are expected to offer higher performance to increase the number of AI services that can be run locally.
Currently, the AI core component is only available in two types of devices: Google’s Pixel 8 family and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 family. Google is working on bringing much of its Gemini AI module to the smartphone market, including the upcoming Pixel 9, and will likely make it available to partners as well — Bloomberg reports that Apple will introduce Gemini AI modules for the iPhone 16 family. The company cites a person familiar with the matter as saying it is considering the Nano.
However, Google may give the new AI features a period of exclusivity on Pixel devices before making them available to partners. If it follows a similar pattern to previous years, we can expect the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro to be announced in early October 2025.
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