Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A new report explains what happened to the “Pixie” assistant.
- The project was reportedly “split in two.”
- Pixie became the Pixel Screenshots app and additional features for Gemini.
Earlier this month, Android Authority reported that Google is working on Pixel Sense for the Pixel 10. Pixel Sense is a new version of the rumored Pixie assistant that was meant to launch with the Pixel 9. If you’ve been wondering what happened to the original Pixie project, a new report sheds some light on what happened to the AI tool.
Back in December 2023, news broke of a new AI assistant that was in the works over at Google. This digital assistant was called “Pixie” and it was being designed as a Pixel-exclusive feature. It was reported that Pixie would be capable of doing everything Google Assistant can do, while also having some new tricks that Assistant can’t perform thanks to Gemini Nano. However, Pixie ended up never making its public debut and it was unclear why.
The team over at 9to5Google has pieced together details on Pixie’s backstory through a report from The Information published in February. In The Information’s report, Pixie is described as an “AI agent” capable of executing tasks across apps. Apparently, leadership didn’t want Pixie to compete with Gemini, so it was downscaled:
…after a leadership review, employees working on the product were told Pichai had ordered a change of direction to ensure the new product didn’t compete with the Gemini assistant, which operates across all of Google’s Android devices, according to a person with direct knowledge of the instructions.
The Pixie project ended up getting “split in two.” One half of the project became the Pixel Screenshots app, while the other half was turned into a collection of features for Gemini.
It’s unclear how Pixel Sense will work, but presumably, Google still doesn’t want something that can compete with Gemini. As such, 9to5 guesses that Pixel Sense won’t be a smart assistant in the traditional sense.
