Google Pixel 8 and 8a to soon get on-device AI Gemini Nano: All the details

Google Pixel 8a

Google's Gemini Nano, an AI model built specifically for smartphones and works on-device to execute AI tasks is now rolling out for Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a. Google has initiated an update to its system UI, enabling users to manually activate this functionality.

Previously, Gemini Nano was only supported on select smartphones, including Google's flagship Pixel 8 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 series smartphones. Android Authority has done an APK teardown of the Google AICore application, which reveals a toggle to enable Gemini Nano.

However, if you don’t manually enable the toggle on your Pixel 8 or 8a smartphone, you may entirely miss out on Gemini AI for now. Currently, the two toggles that are visible in the Google AICore app are ‘Enable AICore Persistent’ and ‘Enable on-device GenAI features.’ These can be only activated by going to the Developer options of the Pixel 8 and 8a.

This also means that Pixel 8 Pro users can choose to turn off the Gemini Nano Pro. However, we don’t suggest doing that, as it might hamper the functioning of your smartphone. But it’s nonetheless good to know that you can manually turn off this feature like the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

We can also expect Gemini Nano support to be officially available for Pixel and 8 Pro in the future.