In early March, Google made the odd announcement that solely one of its two newest smartphones, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, would be capable to run its newest AI mannequin, referred to as “Google Gemini.” Despite having very related specs, the smaller Pixel 8 would not get the brand new AI mannequin, with the corporate citing mysterious “{hardware} limitations” as the rationale. It was a unusual assertion contemplating the truth that Google designed and marketed the Pixel 8 to be AI-centric after which designed a smartphone-centric AI mannequin referred to as “Gemini Nano” but nonetheless could not make the 2 work collectively.
A number of weeks later, Google is backtracking considerably. The firm introduced on the Pixel Phone Help discussion board that the smaller Pixel 8 truly will get Gemini Nano within the subsequent massive quarterly Android launch, which ought to occur in June. There’s a catch, although—whereas the Pixel 8 Pro will get Gemini Nano as a user-facing function, on the Pixel 8, it is solely being launched “as a developer possibility.” That means you’ll flip it on solely through the hidden Developer Options menu within the settings, and most of the people will miss out on it.
Google’s Seang Chau, VP of units and providers software program, defined the choice on the corporate’s in-house “Made by Google” podcast. “The Pixel 8 Pro, having 12GB of RAM, was a excellent place for us to place [Gemini Nano] on the machine and see what we may do,” Chau stated. “When we appeared on the Pixel 8 for example, the Pixel 8 has 4GB much less reminiscence, and it wasn’t as straightforward of a name to simply say, ‘all proper, we will allow it on Pixel 8 as nicely.'” According to Chau, Google’s trepidation is as a result of the corporate does not wish to “degrade the expertise” on the smaller Pixel 8, which solely has 8GB of RAM.
Chau went on to explain what it is wish to have a giant language mannequin like Gemini Nano on your telephone, and it seems like there are massive trade-offs concerned. Google desires among the AI models to be “RAM-resident” in order that they’re all the time loaded in reminiscence. One such function is “sensible reply,” which tries to auto-generate textual content replies.
Chau instructed the podcast, “Smart Reply is one thing that requires the models to be RAM-resident in order that it is accessible on a regular basis. You do not wish to look ahead to the mannequin to load on a Gboard reply, so we maintain it resident.” For that motive, Google is maintaining the Gemini-powered sensible reply behind a developer flag for each the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. The “Smart reply” choices within the regular keyboard settings aren’t Gemini-powered.
So not like an app, which may be loaded and unloaded as you employ it, running one thing like Gemini Nano may imply completely dropping what is apparently a massive chunk of system reminiscence. The baseline of 8GB of RAM for Android phones could must be elevated once more sooner or later. The excessive mark we have seen for phones is 24GB of RAM, and the larger flagships normally have 12GB or 16GB of RAM, so it is definitely doable.
Google’s Gemini Nano mannequin is additionally delivery on the Galaxy S24 lineup, and the bottom mannequin there has 8GB of RAM, too. When Google initially cited {hardware} limitations on the Pixel 8 for the function’s absence, its rationalization was complicated—if the base-model S24 can run it, the Pixel 8 ought to be capable to as nicely. It’s all about how a lot of a trade-off you are prepared to make in accessible reminiscence for apps, although. Chau says the workforce is “nonetheless doing system well being validation as a result of even for those who’re a developer, you may wish to use your telephone on a each day foundation.”
The elephant within the room, although, is that as a person, I do not even know if I need Gemini Nano on my telephone. We’re on the peak of the generative AI hype cycle, and Google has its personal inside causes (the inventory market) for pushing AI so arduous. While visiting ChatGPT and asking it questions may be helpful, that is simply an app. Actually helpful OS-level generative AI options are few and much between. I do not actually need a keyboard to auto-generate replies. If it is simply going to make use of up a bunch of RAM that could possibly be utilized by apps, I’d wish to flip it off.
This put up was up to date March 30 after receiving further knowledge from Google PR. Google instructed us neither the Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro is maintaining Gemini in reminiscence proper now, except you flip on the developer flag. That means by default, neither machine’s sensible reply function is powered by Gemini.