Google has announced that it will allow its Pixel 8 phone to run artificial intelligence (AI) on the device itself. This update comes after strong pressure from the user and developer community. The Pixel 8’s next feature update will include support for Gemini Nano, a large language model developed by Google for mobile devices, announced in December and considered a key piece for the future of Android.
Originally, only the Pixel 8 Pro model could use Gemini Nano, even though both Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro models use the same Tensor G3 chipset. Google had attributed the lack of support on the Pixel 8 to “hardware limitations,” raising questions among Pixel enthusiasts and Android experts about the exact nature of these limitations. Google’s decision to include support for Gemini Nano in the Pixel 8 is a response to the high expectations generated by the community after the launch of the Pixel 8 Pro.
The company recognizes that running large language models on phones with different memory specifications can offer different user experiences, and has been testing on the Pixel 8. The update will enable features like recorder summaries and smart replies in Gboard on the Pixel 8, features that were already available on the Pixel 8 Pro.