Google is gearing up to launch the Pixel 9 series in August, and it looks like the new phones will come packed with a suite of AI-powered features under the “Google AI” branding. The most notable addition is “Pixel Screenshots,” which will use on-device AI to make your screenshots searchable and enable chatbot-like conversations about their content.
This feature sounds a lot like Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature for Copilot AI, which allows users to search through their entire conversation history. However, Google is taking a more privacy-focused approach by limiting the scope to just the screenshots you take, rather than everything happening on your device.
Another intriguing addition is “Studio,” which could be an all-encompassing image generation tool powered by Google’s Imagen 2 model for text-to-image conversion. Details are still scarce, but it’s expected to offer AI-powered image editing capabilities.
The Pixel 9 series is also rumored to include “Add Me,” a feature that should help improve group photos by merging shots with different people in them. This builds upon the Best Take feature introduced with the Pixel 8, which automatically selects the best shot from a burst.
Google is expected to launch at least three variants of the Pixel 9 this year, with a potential fourth model codenamed “Caiman” offering Pro-level features in a more compact form factor. The phones are likely to be powered by the Google Tensor G4 chipset and run Android 15 out of the box.
While the Pixel 9 series is shaping up to be an exciting upgrade, it remains to be seen whether Google will reserve the best AI features for the flagship models or make them available across the entire lineup. Fans are also hoping for improvements in areas like battery life, charging speeds, and camera capabilities.
With the Pixel 9 launch just around the corner in August, we’ll soon have all the details on Google’s latest AI-powered innovations for its flagship smartphones.