by Jason Snell
Google debuts its own chip on the Pixel 6
Google SVP Rick Osterloh unveils the new Tensor System-on-a-Chip designed by Google to power the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones:
Tensor was built for how people use their phones today and how people will use them in the future. As more and more features are powered by AI and ML it’s not simply about adding more computing resources, it’s about using that ML to unlock specific experiences for our Pixel users.
The team that designed our silicon wanted to make Pixel even more capable. For example, with Tensor we thought about every piece of the chip and customized it to run Google’s computational photography models. For users, this means entirely new features, plus improvements to existing ones.
Tensor enables us to make the Google phones we’ve always envisioned — phones that keep getting better, while tapping the most powerful parts of Google, all in a highly personalized experience. And with Tensor’s new security core and Titan M2, Pixel 6 will have the most layers of hardware security in any phone.
This actually works as a concise summary of Apple’s chip design strategy for the last decade.
Whether Google will actually succeed at making a phone that sells well remains to be seen, but even if the latest Pixels don’t become runaway hits, I suspect the Tensor chip design will not be going away.