Google is going all-in on AI, with the company slowly rolling out generative text and image capabilities across most of its services and devices. The same is true for its phones, which have long supported some machine learning-based capabilities. With thePixel 8 seriesand their newTensor G3 chip, Google promises to run some more advanced capabilities locally. Thanks to evidence hidden in the mysterious AiCore app, pre-installed only on thePixel 8 Proright now, we’ve now got some idea what capabilities Pixel phones could run on-device soon.
The AiCore app is a bit of a mystery. Its Play Store listing simply explains that it’s “Powering intelligent features across Android” and that it “provides apps with the latest AI models.” Images in the listing reveal some further information. AiCore will help “AI-driven features run directly on your device using the latest foundation models,” and “to keep those features smart, your device updates the AI models automatically.”
The app is currently only available on the Pixel 8 Pro, so it’s clear that it’s not the primary source any app currently relies on to get access to AI models. In fact, most apps and services either have the smarts built-in long before AiCore came along, like Google Recorder’s on-device voice transcription tool or Call Screen. A bigger portion of AI services, like Google Bard and many AI-assisted Google Photos editing tools, are only available when you’re connected to the internet.
Noted Android expert AssembleDebug took it upon themselves to take a closer look at AiCore and dig through the code to find out what the app will be good for in the futureon X (formerly Twitter). They found that AiCore will be capable of providing data for a lot of use cases. Assemble Debug lists the following:
AiCore will be vital to provide a few new Android features, with some of them likely exclusive to Pixel phones (like Google Recorder and the aforementioned text summary option). Some of these features could even only come to the Pixel 8 series and their new Tensor G3 chip, which is supposed to be a lot more efficient at AI applications than other processors (though this proposition may change with the newSnapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is also advertised as an AI powerhouse).
AssembleDebug also found a few more tidbits with less clear purpose, like…aicore.aidl.IMagicRewriteService, which is likely related to images. There is also an…aicore.aidl.ISuggestedTextResultCallback, which AssembleDebug is entirely unsure about.
It’s clear that AiCore will be in charge of a lot of local generative AI capabilities yet to come to Android phones. Given the limited availability of the app, currently restricted to only the Pixel 8 Pro, we don’t know how long it will take for the app to roll out to more Pixel phones or even to other Android devices. It’s clear that Google is in it for the long haul, though, with AiCore likely emulating the approach the company took to AR with ARCore, which is pre-installed on Android phones as part of the Google Play Services for AR.
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Even though the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro share the same processor, the Google Pixel 8 Pro is the company’s AI powerhouse. While the feature set is identical between the two devices right now, the 8 Pro is the only one with AiCore and it will get some advanced AI features soon. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of Google’s AI efforts, it looks like the Pixel 8 Pro is the phone you should choose.
