Google launches enhanced Pixel phones in bid to leverage AI tech

Mountain View (Reuters): Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google on Tuesday unveiled a lineup of new Pixel smartphones with deeper integrations of its artificial intelligence technology as it races to incorporate AI into its hardware.

The upgrades include a Pixel-only feature that lets users search for information stored in screenshots. Android users can also now pull up Gemini, Google’s chatbot, as an overlay on top of another app to answer questions or generate content.

"There have been so many promises, so many coming-soons, and not enough real-world helpfulness when it comes to AI, which is why today we're getting real," said Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of devices and services.

"We're fully in the Gemini era," he told engineers, executives, analysts and media attending the bigger-than-usual event at Alphabet's Bay View campus in Mountain View, California.

The event bucked another tradition: the latest versions of its Pixel smartphones were announced in the summer rather than in autumn as Google had done with every iteration of the device since its launch in 2016.

"I've been to a lot of Google events and not only was this one of the most elaborate, but it was one of the most complete," said Avi Greengart, lead analyst at Techsponential. He said Google demonstrated that it was at the forefront of AI.