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
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