Google Assistant has proved to be a smart and fast AI assistant on smartphones and other devices for years but considering all the recent growth in the AI world, it could feel pretty basic. This seems to be the reason Google has been working on making it better, faster, and smarter than before. It has already announced Assistant with Bard for Android and iOS devices. Now, a fresh report has revealed the company has another AI assistant “Pixie” under development meant exclusively for Pixel devices.
Pixie Assistant Powered by Gemini Nano Under Development
A new The Information report cites multiple anonymous sources familiar with the development plans to reveal details about Pixie. The new assistant Pixie is said to be a Pixel-exclusive offering and could debut as early as with the Pixel 9 series in 2024. It will be capable of doing all the things that Google Assistant can do but also a lot more.
Pixie would use data from a variety of Google products and services like Gmail and Maps to offer more personalized task capabilities. It will be able to perform “complex and multimodal tasks, such as suggesting directions to the closest store where someone can buy a product they have photographed.” As far as the name is concerned, Pixie could just be an internal codename instead of a commercial name.
One of the differentiating factors between Google Assistant and Pixie would be the latter’s capability to perform tasks on-device. It means it does not require internet connectivity to work. This is because it would be powered by Gemini Nano, the least powerful version of the Gemini AI model from Google. It is already available on the Pixel 8 Pro with the Pixel Feature Drop for December 2023. It currently works with two features i.e. Recorder summaries and Gboard Smart Reply for WhatsApp chats.
The report adds Google has plans to expand Pixie to its lower-end phones and other devices like watches. It is unknown if the new AI assistant will be made available to the existing series of devices or if it will be released only for devices launched in the future. Even if it arrives on older devices, we will have to wait and see what particular features are released.
The idea behind making Pixie exclusive to Pixel and its own devices is pretty clear. Google wants to give buyers something unique with Pixel that they would not get with other brands. Nevertheless, it would also be interesting what exactly are the differences between Bard with Assistant and Pixie once they both go official in the real world.
