Google limits Gemini Intelligence to select Android flagship phones

Google is drawing a hard line around its newest AI push: Gemini Intelligence will land first on only a narrow set of Android flagships, turning premium hardware into the gatekeeper for the company’s most advanced assistant features. The rollout begins this summer on select Samsung and Google phones, while broader support for watches, cars, glasses, and laptops is scheduled for later in 2026.

The feature is designed to automate complex tasks, summarize web content, simplify form filling, and add tools such as Rambler for polishing spoken messages and natural-language widget creation. Google describes Gemini Intelligence as a premium, proactive layer for Android, not a universal system feature, and says it is part of a shift from Android as an operating system into an intelligence system. That framing matters because Google is not opening the door evenly across its ecosystem. It is starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy models and Google Pixel devices, then widening access later.

The hardware requirements help explain why. Google’s documented specifications call for a flagship chip, at least 12GB of RAM, AI Core support, Gemini Nano v3 or higher, at least five Android OS upgrades over the device’s life, and six years of security updates. Those thresholds are high enough that even some recent premium phones could miss the cut. Android users on Android Go are excluded from the broader Gemini mobile app as well, even though the app itself is available on Android phones and tablets running Android 9 and up.

Google has already previewed how selective the launch will be. On February 25, 2026, the company said Galaxy S26 users in the United States and Korea would get an early beta of a Gemini app feature that can handle multi-step tasks such as ordering rides, organizing dinner orders, and building grocery carts, with live progress shown in notifications and the option to stop the task. Google said that beta would begin with select food, grocery, and rideshare apps.

The company is pairing that exclusivity with a broader security pitch. Google’s security team says Gemini Intelligence is built around explicit user control, comprehensive data protection, and operational transparency, including opt-in controls, app-level permissions, confirmation before purchases, and protected processing for ambient data. Circle to Search already reaches more than 580 million Android devices, but Gemini Intelligence is being reserved for far fewer. For Google, the message is clear: the next wave of Android AI is not arriving everywhere at once, and the first wave is for the most expensive phones.