Google Pixel 8 has confirmed that it will not get Gemini Nano support, despite having the same SoC as the Pro

When the Google Pixel feature dropped in December, the Pixel 8 Pro received the power of the Gemini Nano. It’s the smallest AI model Google has to offer, and it can run natively on smartphones. The model doesn’t even need power-hungry SoCs. All of this makes it ideal for on-device AI tasks.

However, while the Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro share the same SoC, it has already been confirmed that the non-Pro smartphone does not have the Gemini Nano. Google revealed this at #TheAndroidShow, where the company talked about a large number of topics, including Android 15, MWC and AI models.

Why isn’t the Google Pixel 8 getting Gemini Nano?

During the Q&A portion of #TheAndroidShow, Terence Zhang, an engineer at Google, talked about why the Pixel 8 didn’t get the Gemini Nano. According to Zhang, this is “due to some hardware limitations.” But, as mentioned earlier, both the non-Pro and Pro variants share the same SoC, the Tensor G3.

Well, mostly about the RAM memory. As you may know, the Google Pixel 8 has 8GB of storage while the 8 Pro has 12GB. But, then again, we’ve already seen the Gemini Nano running on the Galaxy S24, which comes with 8GB of RAM. And it works flawlessly with Magic Compose on the device.

But in that case, you should understand that the Galaxy S24 comes with a powerful SoC. The entire new Galaxy series includes Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. So, while the Google Pixel 8 may have the power to run the Gemini Nano, Google doesn’t want it to affect the rest of the user experience.

In case you missed it, the Gemini Nano powers Gboard Smart Reply in social media apps and the summary feature on the Google Pixel 8 Pro. While it’s confirmed that the non-Pro model will get them, Google said it’s working to make it available to more devices. To be precise, it will appear on “high-end devices in the near future”.

What is Gemini Nano?

Gemini Nano is the smallest and most efficient version of a new family of AI models developed by Google DeepMind. Unlike previous AI models, Gemini Nano can be run on your smartphone. That is, it does not need to send information to the cloud. This makes it ideal for tasks that require privacy or that need to function offline.

Here are some of the benefits of Gemini Nano on your device:

• Local processing of sensitive data: Because Gemini Nano runs on your phone, it can process information without ever sending it to Google’s servers. This is especially important for applications that handle sensitive data. Take for example the Google Pixel 8 Pro’s end-to-end encryption banking or messaging apps.
• Offline access: Even without an Internet connection, you can use features supported by Gemini Nano. This is useful in situations where your Google Pixel 8 Pro or other supporting devices have limited or no data access.
• Cost reduction: Running AI models in the cloud can be expensive. By using Gemini Nano on your device, developers can save on these costs. This also affects the customer. As you may know, the AI ​​features on the new Samsung Galaxy devices won’t stay free for long. But with lower costs on the developer side, costs on the customer side should also be low.