It’s no secret that the sudden arrival of ChatGPT on the scene has spooked Google. The fear that its decades-long dominance in the field of internet search could be coming to an end is very real, and the company has looked to urgently respond with an AI chatbot of its own.
That came in the form of Google Bard — a ChatGPT-like AI chatbot that’s currently only available in a limited preview. But code uncovered by 9to5Google (opens in new tab) suggests that Google may be considering making early access to Bard a perk for Pixel owners.
While Bard is usable on Android phones via the web browser and its dedicated website, it requires you to join a waitlist to access it. It also isn’t as deeply integrated as ChatGPT is into Microsoft’s Edge browser and Bing search engine.
The code seen by the site suggests that both these limitations could be addressed soon, with Bard set to arrive on Android alongside a home screen widget.
Pixel and Bard: a smart combination?
The code doesn’t make it immediately obvious whether Bard will be a standalone app or integrated into the one for Google search, but either would be a big improvement on the way Bard users access it now.
This home screen widget — which 9to5Google intriguingly says is a Pixel exclusive “at least at the start” — will apparently be more than just a one-tap shortcut to starting a new conversation. It’s not clear what it will do exactly, but the site speculates it may contain suggested prompts for conversations. Add a bit of contextual intelligence, and you could have something that’s genuinely game-changing.
It wouldn’t be the first time Google has given exclusive AI features to its Pixel phones. Audio transcription in the Recorder app, Google Assistant call screening and Magic Eraser are all still Pixel exclusives.
Being able to skip the queue to test Bard would follow in this tradition of being a nice little perk for Pixel owners. But while it might drive a little interest toward Google handsets, it’s unlikely to overload Bard’s currently limited capacities given the minimal market share the Pixel has.
There’s a good chance we’ll see this integration unveiled at next week’s Google I/O developer conference, where we’re hoping to get a closer look at the Pixel Tablet, alongside an official unveiling of the as-yet-unannounced Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold.