Google on Wednesday said its latest premium-priced Pixel phone would have powerful generative artificial intelligence (AI) models running independently on the device, as the search engine giant seeks to lure buyers away from the latest iPhone.
The announcement by Google caps the autumn release season for big tech hardware that saw Apple Inc unveil the iPhone 15 series and Meta Platforms Inc officially launch its latest virtual reality headset.
Running on a powerful chip, Google’s Pixel 8 Pro would carry out some AI functions on the device itself instead of relying on transfers from cloud data centers that require heavy bandwidth.
Photo: AFP
At a launch event in New York, Google senior vice president of devices and services Rick Osterloh said the company’s AI teams had figured out how to “distill” AI models “into a version efficient enough to run on our flagship Pixel.”
This would greatly enhance existing AI tools on Pixel phones, such as removing blemishes or unwanted intrusions in photographs.
Later this on-device ability would expand to other AI features, Osterloh said.
Pixel phones would also begin testing an AI-amped assistant that would bring many of the abilities of Google’s ChatGPT-style AI assistant, Bard, onto the phone.
In time, the company said Bard would provide real-time help such as choosing the best path for a hike, sifting through e-mails or planning a birthday party. This would be handled through either spoken word, on-screen prompts or by using images, in a way similar to how the more powerful chatbots already work.
As with the other announcements, Google said that many of these AI powers were at an early phase and would be enhanced gradually.
Separately, Apple on Wednesday rolled out a software update to address an overheating issue that plagued some early buyers of the iPhone 15 Pro line.
The update, called iOS 17.0.3, is available as an over-the-air fix in the software update section of the iPhone settings app. The release notes say the update “provides important bug fixes, security updates, and addresses an issue that may cause iPhone to run warmer than expected.” The update was also released for older iPhones as well as iPads.
Some early iPhone 15 Pro owners reported that their iPhone could become hotter than normal. Apple on Saturday blamed bad code in apps including Uber, Instagram and the Asphalt 9: Legends racing game, in addition to a bug in the device’s software. The company said the new device set-up could overwork the processor and lead to overheating.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
PROBE CONTINUES: Those accused falsely represented that the chips would not be transferred to a person other than the authorized end users, court papers said Singapore charged three men with fraud in a case local media have linked to the movement of Nvidia’s advanced chips from the city-state to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek (深度求索). The US is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using US chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported earlier. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that organized AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of nations such
RSS