Google is reportedly working to integrate artificial intelligence into its features more quickly by merging its Android software divisions into the Pixel hardware divisions.
Following the move, Rick Osterloh, a Google executive who previously led the company’s hardware business, will oversee both the software division responsible for Android mobile software and the Chrome browser, as well as the hardware division renowned for smartphones. Pixel and Fitbit wearables, now known as the Platforms and Devices Division.
(Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images) In this photo illustration, the Google logo is projected onto a man on August 9, 2017 in London, England.
Meanwhile, according to Pichai’s letter, Hiroshi Lockheimer, head of Google’s software business, is without title and will begin other unspecified tasks.
Google recently separated Android development from hardware, saying it did so to avoid giving its phone designers an unfair advantage over other major Android-using smartphone makers, including Samsung and Motorola, and over its Chinese rivals. such as Oppo and Xiaomi.
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Google rollbacks
Then, a few years ago, ABC notes that Google began positioning the Pixel as a flagship product to display what AI could do, focusing heavily on creating features that would illustrate its promises. This required further hardware and software integration of AI to enable such functions on mobile devices.
Osterloh said AI is the main motivation for combining Google’s consumer hardware and software developers.
He said phone technology is already increasingly reliant on AI, noting the Pixel camera, which, among other things, uses technology to enhance night photographs or automatically select the best from many shots tightly synchronized.
Osterloh noted that combining the teams will allow Google to move even faster in integrating AI into its features. He said in the interview that designing the Pixel camera a few years ago required a deep understanding of the complex hardware and software systems involved as well as the new AI models then used for image processing.
Google’s leadership in AI
Google’s leadership, on the other hand, also drew criticism when, last month, Google suspended its Gemini image generator, which produced historically incorrect images.
The error was so serious that it reportedly caused the company’s stock to plummet, prompting Google CEO Sundar Pichai to address the troops, calling the incident “completely unacceptable.”
The disaster has fueled perceptions that Google is suddenly falling behind in the AI race and a growing chorus of voices are calling for Pichai to be replaced.
At the time, Ben Thompson, an analyst and author for the weekly “Stratechery,” said Google needed to change, including eliminating those who allowed it to crack down, including CEO Sundar Pichai. Google employees and others in Silicon Valley read Thompson’s newsletters extensively.
In a published research note, Bernstein analyst Mark Shmulik questioned whether it was time for a shakeup at the top of the internet giant.
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