Google will create a new Platforms & Devices team to oversee all Google Pixel products, Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Photos, and more. It will deal with the implementation of AI in phones, TVs and other devices running on Android, writes The Verge.
The combined division will be led by Rick Osterloh , who for many years led the Pixel development team. Longtime head of Android, Chrome and ChromeOS Hiroshi Lockheimer will work on other projects within Google and Alphabet. Samir Samat , who until now helped run Android under Lockheimer, will now serve as president of the Android ecosystem. Osterlo said in an interview with the publication that the unification of teams will help to integrate artificial intelligence into all Google products much faster. One of the reasons for the change is to “simplify the pipeline”: there is now a team that does AI research and a team that builds products based on it.
The move will help provide users and partners with better products and services, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post.
This will help us accelerate the development of the Android and Chrome ecosystems and deliver the best innovations to partners faster, as we did with Circle to Search in collaboration with Samsung. And within the company, it will also speed up decision-making, – noted the CEO of Google.