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Google Launches Gemini Call Feature on Pixel 11
Confirmed
In Short: Google has launched an early experiment with its Gemini Intelligence feature on the Pixel 11, allowing users to delegate routine business calls to the AI assistant.
Google has launched an early experiment with its Gemini Intelligence feature on the Pixel 11, allowing users to delegate routine business calls to the AI assistant. The feature, available to paid Gemini subscribers in the United States, lets users instruct Gemini to call businesses on their behalf through the Gemini app.
Using the new feature, users can select a business and the reason for the call within the Gemini app. Gemini will then make the call, navigate through automated menus, and interact with the business's staff as needed.
According to Google, the system is designed to respect both customers' and businesses' time. Users can track the call in real-time, receiving updates such as 'waiting on hold' or 'speaking to a representative,' and can take over the conversation at any point.
The AI can handle complex tasks, such as checking product availability, making restaurant reservations, or rescheduling appointments. Gemini can also share personal information approved by the user to facilitate these tasks.
While some may see this as adding complexity to a simple phone call, Google emphasizes the convenience and efficiency it offers. 'Gemini will try to search for a phone number, but you may provide one as well,' a Google spokesperson told WIRED.
What this adds
The feature is currently only available to paid Gemini subscribers who have signed up for the Phone by Google Public Beta on Pixel 11 devices in the United States.
Google has been working on AI-assisted calling technology for nearly a decade.
What's confirmed
- Using the new feature, Pixel users are able to tell Gemini to call businesses on their behalf via the Gemini app on their Pixel 11 device.
- Gemini will first introduce itself, then proceed through the automated phone menus, wait while on hold, and even carry out the conversation with the business staff.
What's still developing
- Building on the success of features such as Hold for Me and Direct My Call, which have already helped users avoid having to wait on hold or work through complicated automated menus, the most recent update allows Gemini to take on even more of the phone-calling burden.
- After the setup is complete, open the Gemini app to start using the feature.
- If this sounds like it’s just making more work for a simple phone call, you wouldn’t be the only one to think that.
- While Google has long offered calling features guided by AI, prior versions were limited in what they could do.
- Google says the AI can handle complex tasks, like calling a store to ask if a product is in stock, making a restaurant reservation, moving a scheduled appointment to a different date, or placing items on hold.
- The launch builds on years of experiments with AI-assisted, automated calling technology at Google.
- With this update, Gemini will be able to share personal information that you approve as part of the calls it makes, which, the company says, will allow it to take a broader set of actions.
- Meanwhile, users can watch how the call proceeds via a live transcript of the conversation.
- That said, you can ask Gemini to call specific numbers.
- Call for Me expands on Google’s suite of smart calling features on Pixels and Android.
- It enabled the now-defunct Google Assistant to call restaurants and book tables.