Google launches new Pixel 9 phones as AI race heats up

Google on Tuesday unveiled new Pixel 9 smartphones, its latest salvo in the scramble by Big Tech to corner the market on nascent artificial intelligence.

The Silicon Valley search giant has been racing against Microsoft, OpenAI and others to lead in AI since the 2022 release of ChatGPT ignited intense interest in the technology.

Pixels account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market dominated by Samsung and Apple, but Google argued its new line is a chance to answer what -- after all the hype -- AI can actually do for customers.

"I understand people's skepticism," Google senior vice president of devices Rick Osterloh said at company's campus in Mountain View, California.

"There have been so many promises, so many 'coming soons,' and not enough real world helpfulness when it comes to AI - which is why today we're getting real."

But AI-infused Pixels also raise questions about how well Google is safeguarding personal data, and how regulators will react to the tech giant's push to make users even more dependent on its platform.

A US judge last week handed Google a major legal blow, ruling in a landmark anti-trust case that it has maintained a monopoly with its dominant search engine.

The court decision against the tech giant could alter how the sector operates in the future.

- Challenge to Apple -

The Pixel weaves users more tightly into Google's online services, taking a page from Apple's strategy with the iPhone and App Store.

Pixel 9 models use Google's Gemini AI capabilities, offering consumers an alternative to the iPhone's "Apple Intelligence" AI, as well as the company's alliance with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

The phones can help with daily tasks like booking appointments or finding old files in the mountain of data people tend to save, according to Pixel senior director of product management Shenaz Zack.

A Pixel might be used to take a photo of a concert poster, for example, then check whether that calendar date is open and draft a message inviting friends to join.

And conversations with Google's AI on Pixel will be more free flowing, allowing interruptions or sudden topic shifts, the company said.

New Pixels will also be able to take notes during phone calls, automatically notifying the other party first.

Google said it has prioritized privacy, from protecting data used by its AI to letting users create password-protected private spaces for apps and other content.

Pixel 9 models let Gemini AI handle personal requests, sending no sensitive information off the device, according to Google.

- Seeing what AI can do -

Analysts said the Pixels could help consumers better envision the potential of artificial intelligence.

"I'm actually really impressed with what Google has done here," Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said in a demonstration area at the Pixel event.

"Google is making AI practical and understandable to the average consumer ... It's so easy, once you use it, to see the benefit of AI rather than this sort of amorphous conceptual thing that is that is being thrust upon us."

Google also unveiled new Pixel earbud and smartwatch models boasting AI features.

The company said the watches will be able to access live feeds from Google's Nest camera-equipped doorbells, letting wearers see who is at their homes and speak with them.

The analyst Greengart said such products will be necessary as Google tries to keep pace with companies such as Apple.

"Google needs to keep the Android ecosystem vibrant," he said.