Google’s Pixel telephones have been powered by semi-custom Tensor processors since 2021, however these chips have by no means actually been a significant menace to rival flagship processors in most benchmarks. Now, a Google government has reportedly claimed that the Tensor G4 within the Pixel 9 collection isn’t designed for benchmarks.

“After we are designing the chip, we’re not designing it for speeds and feats. We’re not designing it to beat some particular benchmark that’s on the market. We’re designing it to fulfill our use instances,” Google Pixel product supervisor Soniya Jobanputra informed the Monetary Categorical.

The chief additionally famous that bettering app launch speeds had been a precedence with the brand new chip:

We knew that we had a ache level with opening apps. And in order we constructed G4, we actually centered on, okay, what do we have to do to guarantee that expertise is best for customers.

Google Tensor: A historical past of AI over benchmarks?

This isn’t a brand new stance from Google, although. Firm representatives have lengthy asserted that the Tensor chips weren’t designed with uncooked horsepower in thoughts. Google Silicon government Monika Gupta famous again in 2022 that the corporate was “snug” not successful benchmarks as a result of the Tensor chips had been constructed for AI options.

Fellow Google Silicon government Phil Carmack additionally informed Ars Technica again in 2021 that they opted for 2 large CPU cores within the unique Tensor chip because it was one of the best resolution for effectivity. He claimed that one large CPU core — seen in rival chips of the period — was solely helpful for successful single-thread benchmarks. So there’s a transparent historical past of Google dismissing benchmarks as a consideration, subsequently lagging behind rivals on this class.

Nonetheless, Google’s declare that it prioritizes effectivity and AI use instances does deserve nearer scrutiny. For one, homeowners of Tensor-powered Pixels have complained about battery life for years, though the Pixel 8 collection appeared like a step in the proper route. Moreover, we’ve seen telephones with non-Tensor chips providing spectacular AI options too, such because the Samsung Galaxy S24 collection. So that you clearly don’t want a Tensor-powered cellphone if you need nifty AI use instances.

There’s additionally proof that the Tensor G4 within the Pixel 9 collection was purported to be a extra formidable chip. In line with earlier stories, Google initially needed the Pixel 9 chip to be a completely {custom} design manufactured by TSMC as an alternative of long-standing companion Samsung. Nonetheless, these identical stories recommend that Google missed a deadline for this formidable chip and determined to go for a Tensor G4 chip that was an incremental improve over the Tensor G3. These claims appear to bear out because the Tensor G4 shares lots in frequent with the Tensor G3 (i.e. GPU, media decode blocks, TPU), apart from the CPU and modem.