Late last year, Google announced that Gemini Nano AI would be included in the Pixel 8 Pro. But the company also confirmed that the Pixel 8 would not be so lucky, as its hardware could not handle the on-device processing of the Gemini Nano. But Google seems to have changed its mind.

Google has confirmed that the Gemini Nano Developer Preview will be part of the next Pixel Feature Drop. While there is not much concrete information on this at this time, Google has confirmed that this AI will offer two extensions (Summarize for Recorder and Smart Reply for Gboard).

Gemini Nano is a lightweight version of Google's Gemini AI model that performs AI processing on the device without connecting to the cloud. This not only helps protect user privacy, but also means that AI functions can be performed without an active Internet connection or extra cost.

The key problem with on-device AI, however, is that it relies on the phone having the necessary hardware to run it. Google itself acknowledges that different memory specs may have different levels of performance. That's why the Pixel 8 Pro came with the Nano feature last year, while the Pixel 8 needed more testing and validation.

That said, the inclusion of these two features on the Pixel 8 will bring a bit more software parity between the two devices, which is good news for those who chose the $699 Pixel 8 over the $999 8 Pro.

Unfortunately, this is a developer preview, meaning the Gemini Nano will only be available to those with an Android developer account. Google may make AI more widely available in the near future, but there is clearly still work to be done before the Pixel 8 is ready for the Gemini Nano.

Still, progress is progress, and we expect the Gemini Nano to make a proper appearance at some point in the next few months. Even if it is only as a beta rather than a stable public release. [perhaps with news about updates to the cloud-enabled Gemini Pro and Ultra.