Google Tensor helps bring the latest innovations from Google to your Pixel phone first: the transformative power of generative AI, innovative and high-quality photos and video, powerful security and performance, and more.

Pixel is the only phone engineered by Google and built with a unique combination of hardware, software, and AI from Google in a custom-designed chip. This makes Pixel more helpful, more personal, and more adaptable to you.²

And because many of the AI innovations on Pixel run on your device through the Tensor processor, they work quickly and privately – and don’t require an internet connection.³

There’s more good news: Tensor keeps getting better with each generation. Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are equipped with Google’s fourth-generation chip. Tensor G4 improves fundamentals like battery life and performance – for example, on average it’s 20% faster browsing the web and 17% faster opening apps than Tensor G3. It’s also more power efficient for taking photos, filming videos, and streaming YouTube content, so you can do more between charges.⁴ And it unlocks new, Pixel-exclusive features that you’re sure to love.

The newest Pixel 9 phones, powered by Tensor G4, will also be the first to run Gemini Nano with Multimodality, the latest on-device AI model from Google, to help your phone understand not just text input, but also image, audio, and speech.

Google Tensor is the system-on-chip AI processor co-designed with the Google DeepMind team, which is at the forefront of the latest innovations in machine learning and generative AI. Tensor was conceptualised in 2016 and first integrated on Pixel 6 in 2021. Tensor plays a key role in optimising large AI models for mobile devices, so Pixel can continue to have the latest innovations, such as instantly translating messages and videos⁵ or summarising a long audio recording without significantly draining your battery.

Tensor delivers the best of Google’s intelligence to Pixel first, including Gemini innovations, putting the most personal, helpful features right in your hand. 

• Take better photos and videos - The most visible examples of machine learning in action on your phone can be found in your photos and videos. With Tensor G4’s cutting-edge computational photography and image processing, your phone can now render more dynamic images, capture more details during zoom, and process sharper, higher-quality photos and videos. Oh, and solve many problems with the photos we’ve all just come to accept.
  For instance, Add Me lets you take the picture, and be in it, too. Take one photo with the group, then swap in the photographer. Pixel merges the photos together so everyone is included, using augmented reality and on-device AI with Google Tensor G4.⁶  Best Take is also a group-photo problem solver, helping you find the best moment or choose everyone’s best expression to get a group picture that everyone loves.⁷ Google Tensor G4 helps bring other next-gen features to the Pixel 9 phones, like enhancements to Panorama mode and Super Res Zoom Video, so you can capture more details than ever before. 

• Unlock creativity – Pixel Studio is a first-of-its-kind image generator that lets you create almost any image or artwork you can imagine just by typing your idea. ⁸ By combining a text-to-image model in the cloud with an on-device diffusion model accelerated on Tensor G4, you can quickly edit and add captions to your creations even when you’re offline

• Enjoy better phone calls – Pixel’s Call Screen can now detect and filter out 50% more spam calls (on average) than before.⁹ Clear Calling’s on-device AI enhancements can help narrowband LTE calls sound better than ever on Pixel 9. Plus, Call Notes privately summarises a call and provides a transcript for you, so you’re free to concentrate on the conversation rather than take notes.¹⁰ This feature is completely private and runs entirely on-device thanks to Tensor G4, so your phone calls and summaries are never sent to the cloud. 

• Communicate faster – Machine learning recognises speech and turns it into text in real-time through Live Caption. Tensor G4 also makes real-time language translation possible with Live Translate, either speech-to-text or directly to audio⁵

• Protect your data –The Google Tensor chip has a separate core from the application processor, so sensitive tasks and controls run in an isolated environment, making them even more resilient to attacks. With Google Tensor G4 and the certified Titan M2ᵀᴹ security chip,¹¹ Pixel offers highest-rated security features.¹² And Pixel 9 uses advanced machine learning models to deliver a secure Face Unlock¹³ that meets Android’s highest biometric standard class, making it strong enough for banking applications.

• Organise and find the info you need from screenshots – With your permission, Pixel Screenshots on Pixel 9 phones saves the info you want to remember from your screenshots – like events, places, and more – and uses Gemini to help find what you need.¹⁴ The Tensor processors are jointly designed with Gemini Nano models so Pixel Screenshots runs quickly, privately, and efficiently on-device to help your phone understand the content within a screenshot you’ve taken – and help you take action when you go back to it.

• Get seven years of security updates, Pixel Drops, and OS upgrades – a Pixel phone will always be first to roll out the latest AI innovations from Google – that’s the advantage of having a phone, processing chip, and AI development under one roof.

Pixel phones learn the different ways we use our phones so they can provide the right information at the right time. 

For instance, understanding the nuances of human speech is a challenge that’s unique to each person. It means understanding syntax, intent, and the context of a request, and knowing the terms and names that are potentially uncommon to others. Your Pixel phone is able to understand your accent and dialect, isolating your voice when there’s background noise, and even hearing you correctly when your mouth is full.

"If these products are invisible and user-friendly and natural, they will become part of the everyday experience,” Yannier says. “That’s how technology should really be."