Google’s answer to Apple’s Genmoji spotted in development for the Pixel 9

Whether you’re in the tech space as a casual consumer or professional, you have no doubt been bombarded by the waves of news surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) over the past couple of years. While it used to be a thing of its own with models from the likes of OpenAI and Google, we’re now seeing companies scramble to try and inject AI into as many of their products and services as possible.

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While we’ve seen this done in useful, intuitive, and even reckless ways, for the most part, we’re at the start of something new and unexplored, and there’s no doubt that there will be more to come as time goes on. With that said, it appears that Google may have an upcoming generative AI trick up its sleeve, with a new report sharing that the ability to create custom stickers and emojis could be on the way.

A more personalized sticker and emoji experience could arrive with the Pixel 9

The report comes from none other than Mishaal Rahman of Android Authority, who is no stranger to digging through code to find some of the more interesting tidbits in the latest releases of Android. Rahman shares that a new Creative Assistant feature could find its way to upcoming Pixel devices, possibly making its debut with the upcoming Pixel 9.

Of course, Rahman cautions that not a lot is known about what kind of software features will arrive with the new device, and rightfully so, as these things are always fluid and in motion. Nonetheless, it looks like Creative Assistant is a part of the software for now, showing up in code in two places in the latest Android 15 Beta 3.

Now, before you get all excited, the feature isn’t actually present and can’t be experimented with. But Rahman does clarify that from what he has seen, that there’s a good chance that users will be able to “remix” stickers using generative AI with this new feature. It’s also unclear whether this will all be handled on device or if this process will be done in the cloud.

Of course, this will be a step beyond the customization that’s currently available with Google’s Emoji Kitchen. And those that follow Apple news will know that the brand has recently announced something similar during its WWDC event called Genmoji. So, there’s a pretty good chance here that Google may be borrowing from its rival and it could even potentially beat it to the punch when it comes to a public release.

As stated before, it’s not clear if this will be something that really comes to fruition in the future. But Rahman seems confident that it will arrive, and could even be made available to older Pixel devices too, or at least those that are running on Google’s Tensor G3 SoC. Naturally, we’ll just have to wait to find out and, hopefully, at some point, we’ll get a fun new way to interact with friends and family through customized stickers and emojis.