Google’s Pixel 8 and 8 Pro pack nearly the same hardware except the RAM capacity. Now, the search giant has revealed some unfortunate news for the Pixel 8. The standard variant won’t be getting Gemini Nano, the smallest version of the company’s AI model that was announced last December. This is a bummer for owners of the Pixel 8 who were hoping to get the mobile-friendly LLM on their device. 

Google confirms no Gemini Nano on the Pixel 8

Google made a confirmation about the lack of Gemini Nano on the Pixel 8 in a recent episode of The Android Show on the Android Developers channel. Terence Zhang, a developer relations engineer at Google reveals that this is because of the hardware limitations of the smartphone. He does not detail in to what those limitations are but the only difference between the standard and pro variants of the Pixel 8 is that the former packs 8GB RAM whereas the latter has 12GB. 

Gemini Nano runs on the Pixel 8 Pro and the Galaxy S24 series. The AI model offers features like Summarize in the Recorder app, Smart Reply in Gboard, WhatsApp, and photography enhancements without network connection. The lack of the AI model on the standard variant has made the gap between the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro greater. If you’re considering buying Pixel 8 device, you might want to keep this thing in mind.

Google also confirmed that it is working on extending the Gemini Nano’s compatibility to more high-end devices. Recently chipmaker MediaTek also announced its partnership with Google to optimize Gemini Nano for the Dimensiy 9300 and 8300 chips. Additionally, the search giant also outlined its plans to integrate Gemini into Android smartphones starting in 2025. 

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