Google Pixel AI could inspire the next-gen MediaTek chipsets

In recent years, Google has put a big focus on integrating advanced AI-powered features into its devices, even designing its own Tensor chipsets for it. Now, MediaTek announced the development of its own chips focused on AI processing, becoming a ‘potential threat’ for the search giant.

During the latest MediaTek Annual Executive Summit, the company revealed its plans to develop chipsets that offer generative AI capabilities on mobile devices.

According to the report (by CNET), the MediaTek AI chipsets could enable advanced image editing possibilities, as occurs on Google Pixel devices equipped with Tensor chips. For instance, the source points out that the new chipsets would boost tasks such as removing unwanted elements from images or offering personalized suggestions.

This is similar to features that Google has been heavily promoting in different ways, such as Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, and others.

Also, a MediaTek executive points out that the extra power of AI processing could be harnessed by voice assistants to make them even smarter, offering contextual tips or solutions in real time according to what you are doing at any particular moment.

It’s noteworthy that the latest MediaTek flagship chipsets (such as the Dimensity 9300) already integrate powerful AI-processing capabilities:

However, it seems that MediaTek wants to go even further, making its hardware platforms better for executing tasks related to AI processing.

That said, the company did not reveal more specific details about the project. For instance, it is not yet known if MediaTek will develop a suite of AI features to integrate natively into the devices that equip its chips, or if they will only offer the ‘AI raw power’ for OEMs to take advantage of.

Thanks to the good work that MediaTek has been doing with its chipsets since the creation of the ‘Dimensity’ chipsets, the company experienced accelerated growth that led it to surpass Qualcomm as the mobile chipset supplier with the largest market share worldwide.

The company seems not to want to limit itself to just offering powerful high-performance SoCs, but rather they want to improve their versatility for other types of tasks as well, such as AI-powered features.

Currently, the ‘king’ of this type of features in smartphones seems to be Google, since although its Tensor chipsets do not integrate the most powerful TPU or NPU, the company’s expertise and focus in the area give it a competitive advantage over other brands.

We’ll probably have to wait several months to really know what the new MediaTek AI-powered chips for mobile devices will offer and how they will compare to Google Tensor hardware, but the project looks promising on paper.