Xiaomi to adopt Google’s Gemini AI model on next flagship smartphone for overseas markets

The Xiaomi 15-series Android smartphone will integrate Gemini for its release outside mainland China later this year

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Xiaomi’s Gemini initiative reflects the aggressive moves by Chinese Android handset vendors to adopt generative artificial intelligence technology into their devices. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:30pm, 9 Aug 2024

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is working with Google to integrate its Gemini large language model (LLM) into the Chinese firm’s next flagship series for international markets, intensifying competition in the nascent segment for handsets with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

“Thrilled to collaborate with Google on upcoming Xiaomi flagship devices for international markets,” Xiaomi founder, chairman and chief executive Lei Jun wrote in a post on X, following an announcement at the two-day Google I/O Connect China event in Beijing that concluded on Thursday.

“Leveraging Google Cloud and Gemini, we’re set to offer smarter, more intuitive experiences,” he added.

The upcoming Xiaomi 15 smartphones are widely expected to be introduced later this year, in line with previous launches for the 12 series in 2021, the 13 line in 2022 and the 14 series in 2023.

Xiaomi founder, chairman and chief executive Lei Jun speaks at an event in Beijing on July 19, 2024. Photo: AFP

No announcement has been made for the LLM – the technology behind generative AI (GenAI) services like ChatGPT – that Xiaomi will integrate into its 15 series for the mainland. Xiaomi has developed its own AI model, named MiLM, according to Chinese regulatory filings in May.

Google’s Gemini, like other foreign AI services, is not available on the mainland, where internet watchdog the Cyberspace Administration of China requires preregistration and review of AI systems and applications.