AI overshadowed Pixel at the Pixel event

Google’s Tuesday lawsuit was ostensibly astir Pixel hardware. Really, it was astir AI.

Google’s Rick Osterloh made that wide from the infinitesimal helium walked onstage, wherever his archetypal remarks focused a batch much connected Google’s artificial quality efforts than devices:

For the archetypal 25 minutes of the show, Osterloh and his colleagues didn’t marque immoderate announcements astir the Pixel 9 lineup, the Pixel Watch 3, oregon the Pixel Buds Pro 2. Instead, they highlighted things similar Google’s investments successful its tech stack and Tensor chips, however each six of its products with much than 2 cardinal monthly users (Search, Gmail, Android, Chrome, YouTube, and Google Play) harness the company’s Gemini AI models successful immoderate way, and however Gemini and Google’s AI tools are integrated with different Android phones that you tin already buy. Even earlier showing demos connected its phones, Google was showing its AI tools onstage connected phones from Samsung and Motorola.

Google besides utilized this pre-hardware conception to amusement disconnected what was arguably the astir absorbing conception of the event: a spotlight connected Gemini Live, a instrumentality that lets you person much earthy back-and-forth conversations with Gemini for things similar brainstorming oregon practicing for an interview. (To me, it felt similar Google’s effect to OpenAI’s awesome GPT-4o demo mode backmost earlier I/O.) And Gemini Live isn’t adjacent a Pixel-exclusive feature; it’s rolling retired arsenic of Tuesday for radical subscribed to Gemini Advanced and utilizing Android.

When Google yet got astir to talking astir its caller hardware, AI was everyplace there, too. Gemini tin respond to what’s connected your telephone screen. “Add Me” tin adhd the idiosyncratic who is taking radical photos into a picture. The Pixel Watch uses AI to assistance observe your pulse now. Google adjacent envisions that you’ll speech with Gemini Live portion utilizing the caller Pixel Buds Pro 2.

And conscionable erstwhile it felt similar Osterloh was astir to wrapper up, helium shared a fewer more AI announcements astir things that are coming further down the line. Google plans to fto you stock your camera during a Gemini Live speech truthful that Gemini tin respond to what you’re looking at. You’ll beryllium capable to link apps to Gemini Live, too. And Gemini volition beryllium capable to marque probe reports by searching things connected the web for you — a diagnostic that Osterloh says is coming to Gemini Advanced users successful the “coming months.”

If you’ve been pursuing Google arsenic of late, this absorption connected AI isn’t a immense surprise. But with Tuesday’s event, it’s wide that Google views AI arsenic its cardinal competitory differentiator for its hardware and the champion mode to instrumentality connected giants similar Apple and Samsung. Based connected what we saw, it definite seems similar Google’s phones could person immoderate much awesome AI tricks than what Apple is moving connected — and I’m definite Google has been blessed to perceive that Apple’s astir precocious Apple Intelligence features aren’t expected to get until adjacent year.

I’m inactive skeptical of Google’s AI flashiness. Sure, immoderate of the photograph features look cool, but I don’t spot Gemini enough to person a afloat speech with it. Will different radical care? And volition they attraction capable to bargain Pixels oregon motion up for Gemini Advanced? I’m not truthful sure. But with Google’s caller hardware launching implicit the people of this period and next, we won’t person to hold agelong to spot if the company’s attraction to AI volition triumph implicit caller buyers.