Exclusive: This is Google AI and it’s coming to the Pixel 9

Google Pixels have long been known for their AI intelligence. From the beginning, Google has put a lot of effort into creating unique, useful features, and with the current LLM craze, it’s no surprise that the upcoming Google Pixel 9 series will offer even more intricate AI experiences.

Thanks to a source within Google, Android Authority has learned that Google plans to introduce a series of new ML features under the “Google AI” brand, including a feature similar to Microsoft’s controversial Recall.

Google AI will feature a mix of new and existing features. Circle to Search is already available on Pixels and even select third-party devices, and Gemini is available on all Android phones.

However, there are three completely new features: the first is add mewhich claims to ensure everyone is in a group photo. While we don’t have any additional information about the feature, it sounds like an improved version of Best Take, Add Me is a feature that can not only change the expressions of people in a photo, but also merge takes with different people in them. Best Take first introduced with the Pixel 8 series, and while it’s controversial, it’s still a nice to have. Add Me shows that Google is willing to lean further into the idea that what matters is what you photograph, not what you actually photographed, and that it thinks AI could be the solution to that problem.

Another new feature is Studio. We believe it’s the same Creative Assistant app we spotted earlier. The previous references we found reveal that the app will be integrated into the Pixels’ screenshot editor app, allowing it to create (“remix”) stickers.

The description of the screenshot above suggests that the app will be capable of a lot more than just making stickers. It could be an all-in-one generative AI image generator, similar to Apple’s Image Playground. It’s worth noting that Google has been working on its own image and even video generation models for a while now. If you’re interested in trying them out for yourself, ImageFX is letting everyone try out the Google Imagen 2 model , and VideoFX (currently in closed beta) extends the capability to video. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Google Studio integrates into other apps.

The last, and perhaps most interesting, feature is Pixel screenshots.

Pixel Screenshots is a feature that sounds very similar to Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature. For those of you who haven’t had internet access in the past month, Recall is a Windows 11 feature that’s exclusive to the new Copilot Plus PCs. It automatically records everything you do and uses on-device AI to help you quickly find information about whatever you’re looking for. However, many have criticized the feature for its privacy implications, especially after it was revealed that any attacker with access to your machine could read everything recorded by the feature , and Microsoft has paused the rollout while it works out these issues.

Google’s take on the feature is different, and more privacy-focused: instead of automatically recording everything you do, it only works on screenshots you take yourself. When you do, the app adds some extra metadata to it, like app names, web links, etc. It’s then processed by a local AI, presumably the new multi-modal version of Gemini Nano, that lets you search for specific screenshots based on their content, and ask a bot questions about them.

My take on the feature is that it’s definitely a better implementation of the idea than what Microsoft has created. While there is a difference in functionality, both apps ultimately serve a similar purpose and Google’s implementation isn’t likely to leak sensitive information, at least not in the slightest. It’ll be interesting to see how it works in practice.

It’s worth noting that Motorola is also working on its own version of Recall. Not much is known at this point, but it seems like it will be similar to Google’s implementation, without the automatic saving of everything on the screen.

What do you think of the new Google AI features coming to the Pixel 9 series? Let us know in the comments.