Google confirmed that the Pixel 8 will support on-device AI via Gemini Nano. The feature will arrive with the next Feature Drop in June.
A few weeks ago, we learned that hardware limitations prevented Google from bringing Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8. Gemini Nano would only be available on the Pixel 8 Pro. Naturally, this wasn’t great news for Pixel 8 owners who opted for the cheaper model.
Gemini Nano is a large language model that can power on-device generative AI features on mobile phones. It’s also a Google-made AI model and the company’s only LLM that can run on phones right now. That’s why it’s incredibly important for Google to have Gemini Nano run on its Pixel flagships before any other Android device gets it.
It turns out that Google managed to find a way to bring Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8 after all. The next Android 14 Feature Drop will bring Gemini Nano to the base Pixel 8.
The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro have similar hardware when it comes to processing power. They feature the same Tensor G3 chip, but they have different amounts of RAM. Google included 8GB of memory in the Pixel 8 and 12GB in the Pixel 8 Pro.
