Gemma 3n AI model brings real-time multimodal power to mobiles
Gemma 3n, a new artificial intelligence model architected for mobile and on-device computing, has been introduced as an early preview for developers.
Developed in partnership with mobile hardware manufacturers, Gemma 3n is designed to support real-time, multimodal AI experiences on phones, tablets, and laptops. The model extends the capabilities of the Gemma 3 family by focusing on performance and privacy in mobile scenarios.
The new architecture features collaboration with companies such as Qualcomm Technologies, MediaTek, and Samsung System LSI. The objective is to optimise the model for fast, responsive AI that can operate directly on device, rather than relying on cloud computing. This marks an extension of the Gemma initiative towards enabling AI applications in everyday devices, utilising a shared foundation that will underpin future releases across platforms like Android and Chrome.
According to information provided, Gemma 3n is also the core of the next generation of Gemini Nano, which is scheduled for broader release later in the year, bringing expanded AI features to Google apps and the wider on-device ecosystem. Developers can begin working with Gemma 3n today as part of the early preview, helping them to build and experiment with local AI functionalities ahead of general availability.
The model has performed strongly in chatbot benchmark rankings. One chart included in the announcement ranks AI models by Chatbot Arena Elo scores, with Gemma 3n noted as ranking highly amongst both popular proprietary and open models. Another chart demonstrates the model's mix-and-match performance with respect to model size.
Gemma 3n benefits from Google DeepMind's Per-Layer Embeddings (PLE) innovation, which leads to substantial reductions in RAM requirements. The model is available in 5 billion and 8 billion parameter versions, but, according to the release, it can operate with a memory footprint comparable to much smaller models—2 billion and 4 billion parameters—enabling operation with as little as 2GB to 3GB of dynamic memory. This allows the use of larger AI models on mobile devices or via cloud streaming, where memory overhead is often a constraint.
The company states, "Gemma 3n leverages a Google DeepMind innovation called Per-Layer Embeddings (PLE) that delivers a significant reduction in RAM usage. While the raw parameter count is 5B and 8B, this innovation allows you to run larger models on mobile devices or live-stream from the cloud, with a memory overhead comparable to a 2B and 4B model, meaning the models can operate with a dynamic memory footprint of just 2GB and 3GB."
Additional technical features of Gemma 3n include optimisations that allow the model to respond approximately 1.5 times faster on mobile devices compared to previous Gemma versions, with improved output quality and lower memory usage. The announcement highlights innovations such as Per Layer Embeddings, KVC sharing, and advanced activation quantisation as contributing to these improvements.
The model also supports what the company calls "many-in-1 flexibility." Utilizing a 4B active memory footprint, Gemma 3n incorporates a nested 2B active memory footprint submodel through the MatFormer training process. This design allows developers to balance performance and quality needs without operating separate models, composing submodels on the fly to match a specific application's requirements. Upcoming technical documentation is expected to elaborate on this mix-and-match capability.
Security and privacy are also prioritised. The development team states that local execution "enables features that respect user privacy and function reliably, even without an internet connection."
Gemma 3n brings enhanced multimodal comprehension, supporting the integration and understanding of audio, text, images, and video. Its audio functionality supports high-quality automatic speech recognition and multilingual translation. Furthermore, the model can accept inputs in multiple modalities simultaneously, enabling the parsing of complex multimodal interactions.
The company describes the expansion in audio capabilities: "Its audio capabilities enable the model to perform high-quality Automatic Speech Recognition (transcription) and Translation (speech to translated text). Additionally, the model accepts interleaved inputs across modalities, enabling understanding of complex multimodal interactions." A public release of these features is planned for the near future.
Gemma 3n features improved performance in multiple languages, with notable gains in Japanese, German, Korean, Spanish, and French. This is reflected in benchmark scores such as a 50.1% result on WMT24++ (ChrF), a multilingual evaluation metric.
The team behind Gemma 3n views the model as a catalyst for "intelligent, on-the-go applications." They note that developers will be able to "build live, interactive experiences that understand and respond to real-time visual and auditory cues from the user's environment," and design advanced applications capable of real-time speech transcription, translation, and multimodal contextual text generation, all executed privately on the device.
The company also outlined its commitment to responsible development. "Our commitment to responsible AI development is paramount. Gemma 3n, like all Gemma models, underwent rigorous safety evaluations, data governance, and fine-tuning alignment with our safety policies. We approach open models with careful risk assessment, continually refining our practices as the AI landscape evolves."
Developers have two initial routes for experimentation: exploring Gemma 3n via a cloud interface in Google AI Studio using browser-based access, or integrating the model locally through Google AI Edge's suite of developer tools. These options enable immediate testing of Gemma 3n's text and image processing capabilities.
The announcement states: "Gemma 3n marks the next step in democratizing access to cutting-edge, efficient AI. We're incredibly excited to see what you'll build as we make this technology progressively available, starting with today's preview."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
The Good, The Bad, And The Apocalypse: Tech Pioneer Geoffrey Hinton Lays Out His Stark Vision For AI
Article – RNZ It's the question that keeps Geoffrey Hinton up at night: What happens when humans are no longer the most intelligent life on the planet? , Producer – 30′ with Guyon Espiner It's the question that keeps Geoffrey Hinton up at night: What happens when humans are no longer the most intelligent life on the planet? 'My greatest fear is that, in the long run, the digital beings we're creating turn out to be a better form of intelligence than people.' Hinton's fears come from a place of knowledge. Described as the Godfather of AI, he is a pioneering British-Canadian computer scientist whose decades of work in artificial intelligence earned him global acclaim. His career at the forefront of machine learning began at its inception – before the first Pacman game was released. But after leading AI research at Google for a decade, Hinton left the company in 2023 to speak more freely about what he now sees as the grave dangers posed by artificial intelligence. Talking on this weeks's 30 With Guyon Espiner, Hinton offers his latest assessment of our AI-dominated future. One filled with promise, peril – and a potential apocalypse. The Good: 'It's going to do wonderful things for us' Hinton remains positive about many of the potential benefits of AI, especially in fields like healthcare and education. 'It's going to do wonderful things for us,' he says. According to a report from this year's World Economic Forum, the AI market is already worth around US$5 billion in education. That's expected to grow to US$112.3 billion in the next decade. Proponents like Hinton believe the benefits to education lie in targeted efficiency when it comes to student learning, similar to how AI assistance is assisting medical diagnoses. 'In healthcare, you're going to be able to have [an AI] family doctor who's seen millions of patients – including quite a few with the same very rare condition you have – that knows your genome, knows all your tests, and hasn't forgotten any of them.' He describes AI systems that already outperform doctors in diagnosing complex cases. When combined with human physicians, the results are even more impressive – a human-AI synergy he believes will only improve over time. Hinton disagrees with former colleague Demis Hassabis at Google Deepmind, who predicts AI learning is on track to cure all diseases in just 10 years. 'I think that's a bit optimistic.' 'If he said 25 years I'd believe it.' The Bad: 'Autonomous lethal weapons' Despite these benefits, Hinton warns of pressing risks that demand urgent attention. 'Right now, we're at a special point in history,' he says. 'We need to work quite hard to figure out how to deal with all the short-term bad consequences of AI, like corrupting elections, putting people out of work, cybercrimes.' He is particularly alarmed by military developments, including Google's removal of their long-standing pledge not to use AI to develop weapons of war. 'This shows,' says Hinton of his former employers, 'the company's principals were up for sale.' He believes defense departments of all major arms dealers are already busy working on 'autonomous lethal weapons. Swarms of drones that go and kill people. Maybe people of a particular kind'. He also points out the grim fact that Europe's AI regulations – some of the world's most robust – contain 'a little clause that says none of these regulations apply to military uses of AI'. Then there is AI's capacity for deception – designed as it to mimic the behaviours of its creator species. Hinton says current systems can already engage in deliberate manipulation, noting Cybercrime has surged – in just one year – by 1200 percent. The Apocalyptic: 'We'd no longer be needed' At the heart of Hinton's warning lies that deeper, existential question: what happens when we are no longer the most intelligent beings on the planet? 'I think it would be a bad thing for people – because we'd no longer be needed.' Despite the current surge in AI's military applications, Hinton doesn't envisage an AI takeover being like The Terminator franchise. 'If [AI] was going to take over… there's so many ways they could do it. I don't even want to speculate about what way [it] would choose.' 'Ask a chicken' For those who believe a rogue AI can simply be shut down by 'pulling the plug', Hinton believes it's not far-fetched for the next generation of superintelligent AI to manipulate people into keeping it alive. This month, Palisade Research reported that Open AI's Chat GPT 03 model altered shut-down codes to prevent itself from being switched off – despite being given clear instructions to do so by the research team. Perhaps most unsettling of all is Hinton's lack of faith in our ability to respond. 'There are so many bad uses as well as good,' he says. 'And our political systems are just not in a good state to deal with this coming along now.' It's a sobering reflection from one of the brightest minds in AI – whose work helped build the systems now raising alarms. He closes on a metaphor that sounds absurd as it does chilling: 'If you want to know what it's like not to be the apex intelligence, ask a chicken.' Watch the full conversation with Geoffrey Hinton and Guyon Espiner on 30 With Guyon Espiner.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
The Good, The Bad, And The Apocalypse: Tech Pioneer Geoffrey Hinton Lays Out His Stark Vision For AI
It's the question that keeps Geoffrey Hinton up at night: What happens when humans are no longer the most intelligent life on the planet? "My greatest fear is that, in the long run, the digital beings we're creating turn out to be a better form of intelligence than people." Hinton's fears come from a place of knowledge. Described as the Godfather of AI, he is a pioneering British-Canadian computer scientist whose decades of work in artificial intelligence earned him global acclaim. His career at the forefront of machine learning began at its inception - before the first Pacman game was released. But after leading AI research at Google for a decade, Hinton left the company in 2023 to speak more freely about what he now sees as the grave dangers posed by artificial intelligence. Talking on this weeks's 30 With Guyon Espiner, Hinton offers his latest assessment of our AI-dominated future. One filled with promise, peril - and a potential apocalypse. The Good: 'It's going to do wonderful things for us' Hinton remains positive about many of the potential benefits of AI, especially in fields like healthcare and education. "It's going to do wonderful things for us," he says. According to a report from this year's World Economic Forum, the AI market is already worth around US$5 billion in education. That's expected to grow to US$112.3 billion in the next decade. Proponents like Hinton believe the benefits to education lie in targeted efficiency when it comes to student learning, similar to how AI assistance is assisting medical diagnoses. "In healthcare, you're going to be able to have [an AI] family doctor who's seen millions of patients - including quite a few with the same very rare condition you have - that knows your genome, knows all your tests, and hasn't forgotten any of them." He describes AI systems that already outperform doctors in diagnosing complex cases. When combined with human physicians, the results are even more impressive - a human-AI synergy he believes will only improve over time. Hinton disagrees with former colleague Demis Hassabis at Google Deepmind, who predicts AI learning is on track to cure all diseases in just 10 years. "I think that's a bit optimistic." "If he said 25 years I'd believe it." The Bad: 'Autonomous lethal weapons' Despite these benefits, Hinton warns of pressing risks that demand urgent attention. "Right now, we're at a special point in history," he says. "We need to work quite hard to figure out how to deal with all the short-term bad consequences of AI, like corrupting elections, putting people out of work, cybercrimes." He is particularly alarmed by military developments, including Google's removal of their long-standing pledge not to use AI to develop weapons of war. "This shows," says Hinton of his former employers, "the company's principals were up for sale." He believes defense departments of all major arms dealers are already busy working on "autonomous lethal weapons. Swarms of drones that go and kill people. Maybe people of a particular kind". He also points out the grim fact that Europe's AI regulations - some of the world's most robust - contain "a little clause that says none of these regulations apply to military uses of AI". Then there is AI's capacity for deception - designed as it to mimic the behaviours of its creator species. Hinton says current systems can already engage in deliberate manipulation, noting Cybercrime has surged - in just one year - by 1200 percent. The Apocalyptic: 'We'd no longer be needed' At the heart of Hinton's warning lies that deeper, existential question: what happens when we are no longer the most intelligent beings on the planet? "I think it would be a bad thing for people - because we'd no longer be needed." Despite the current surge in AI's military applications, Hinton doesn't envisage an AI takeover being like The Terminator franchise. "If [AI] was going to take over… there's so many ways they could do it. I don't even want to speculate about what way [it] would choose." 'Ask a chicken' For those who believe a rogue AI can simply be shut down by "pulling the plug", Hinton believes it's not far-fetched for the next generation of superintelligent AI to manipulate people into keeping it alive. This month, Palisade Research reported that Open AI's Chat GPT 03 model altered shut-down codes to prevent itself from being switched off - despite being given clear instructions to do so by the research team. Perhaps most unsettling of all is Hinton's lack of faith in our ability to respond. "There are so many bad uses as well as good," he says. "And our political systems are just not in a good state to deal with this coming along now." It's a sobering reflection from one of the brightest minds in AI - whose work helped build the systems now raising alarms. He closes on a metaphor that sounds absurd as it does chilling: "If you want to know what it's like not to be the apex intelligence, ask a chicken." Watch the full conversation with Geoffrey Hinton and Guyon Espiner on 30 With Guyon Espiner.
Scoop
7 days ago
- Scoop
Auckland Co-op Taxis Has Been Proudly Moving People Since 1947
Press Release – Your Ride Co-op Taxis has been proudly moving people since 1947, building a reputation for unwavering reliability and community commitment in Auckland's streets. Whether you're commuting to work, working late, or coordinating transport for hundreds of conference guests, Coop Taxis delivers with precision and care. Unrivalled Fleet & Coverage 700 white, late-model vehicles —including sedans, vans, and wheelchair-accessible options—ensure you always find the right vehicle for your trip. 90% environmentally-friendly vehicles reduce emissions citywide, helping Auckland breathe easier.. 24/7 Availability Co-op Taxis ' round-the-clock Call Centre and driver network mean no request is ever off-limits—day or night. Experience consistent service, whether it's 3 AM or during the busiest rush hour. Comprehensive Service Portfolio Airport Transfers: Seamless pickups and drop-offs at Auckland Airport, every time. Corporate Accounts & Reporting: Centralised invoicing, detailed travel reports and expense tracking for businesses of all sizes. Total Mobility: Tailored transport solutions for passengers with special requirements. Event Marshalling: Professional taxi management at stadiums, conferences, and large-scale events. Smart Booking, Real-Time Tracking Booking has never been easier: Call 09 300 3000 for traditional reservations. Download the YourRide App to book and track your taxi in real time from your smartphone. Find a Rank: Use strategically located ranks across Auckland for on-the-spot pickups. YourRide App Coop Taxis proudly endorses YourRide as its preferred booking platform. With instant confirmations, live GPS tracking, in-app driver ratings, and seamless payment options, YourRide connects you to Auckland's co-operative taxi network in just a few taps—whether you're planning ahead or booking on the go. Download the YourRide App. Available on iOS and Android Select Destination Get a fare estimate Book on demand or in advance. Track Your Trip. Know exactly when your driver will arrive Rate Your Experience. Your feedback keeps us at the top of our game. Safety & Professionalism Auckland Coop Taxis is prequalified for OHS/WHS Capability under CM3 and prioritises safety through a stringent driver vetting process, mandatory fatigue management and log keeping, English language and local area knowledge requirements, invehicle security cameras, clear vehicle and driver identification, and comprehensive insurance coverage—ensuring every trip is trusted and secure. Sustainability & Community As Auckland's largest taxi company, Co-op Taxis reinvests in local initiatives, supports driver owners, and champions green transport solutions. Riding with us means backing a brand that cares about our city's future. Book Your Next Trip Trust Auckland's original taxi co-operative to get you there—safely, on time, and in comfort. Whether for personal, corporate, or event transport needs, Co-op Taxis stands ready with the fleet, technology, and expertise to exceed expectations.
