Surprise! Google will let the Pixel 8 run on-device AI after all

Public shaming works.

by Allison Johnson

Mar 28, 2024, 2:00 PM UTC

Google Pixel 8 in pink on a pink background with red transparent squares.

Google Pixel 8 owners can have a little on-device AI, as a treat.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Part Of

All the news on Google’s Pixel 8, 8 Pro, and 8A

see all updates

Allison Johnson is a senior reviewer with over a decade of experience writing about consumer tech. She has a special interest in mobile photography and telecom. Previously, she worked at DPReview.

We did it, y’all. We bullied Google into letting the Pixel 8 run on-device AI. Starting with the next Pixel feature drop, the Pixel 8 will use Gemini Nano for a couple of AI features.

Google announced Gemini Nano as its mobile-optimized large language model in December and said it would be a core part of Android in the future — but in its own device lineup, only the Pixel 8 Pro was able to use it. Despite using the same Tensor G3 chipset, the Pixel 8 wasn’t getting on-device AI because of “hardware limitations.” Pixel fans and watchful Android experts asked the same question: what the heck, Google?

The Pixel 8 will get support for Gemini Nano in the next Pixel feature drop as a developer preview, powering on-device recorder summaries and smart replies in Gboard — same as the Pixel 8 Pro. Meanwhile, Samsung started rolling out AI features to its previous-generation flagship phones today. In a blog post earlier this year, Samsung said that this AI feature expansion would utilize both on- and off-device AI. Google’s “hardware limitation” explanation for Gemini Nano’s absence on the Pixel 8 was starting to look pretty shaky.

In any case, a victory is a victory, and I’m pretty sure this one belongs to all of us. Peer pressure works, my friends.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.