Chromebooks are going to be getting more feature rich as Google aims to make it easier for the company to deliver AI to its customers. As part of this effort, chunks of Android code are going to be added directly into ChromeOS. In a post on the Chromium Blog, the ChromeOS team says that “Chromebooks now give us the opportunity to put powerful tools in the hands of more people to help with everyday tasks.”
The team adds that “we’ll be embracing portions of the Android stack, like the Android Linux kernel and Android frameworks, as part of the foundation of ChromeOS.” By adding this Android code it will be easier and more efficient to continue adding Google AI features to ChromeOS.
It appears there will be more benefits than just getting AI integrated at a quicker pace, though. The team is claiming that this move will also enable different devices and accessories to more easily work with Chromebooks. This should come as welcome news to the millions of users who are rocking a Chromebook as a daily driver.
However, these changes will not be happening overnight, as the team says that “these improvements in the tech stack are starting now but won’t be ready for consumers for quite some time.” Although once it’s ready to go, Google is promising that the transition will be a seamless one for users, which is key as Chromebooks are heavily used in education and business settings.
Having Google AI available in Chromebooks is an important move for the company as the AI wars continue to heat up. However, a stumbling block might be how the company is able to provide these services to students and employees, who will undoubtedly have privacy and security concerns.