Google debuts Pixel Studio AI image-making app

Google announced a new image generation app during its Pixel 9 event today. The company says the app, called Pixel Studio, will come preinstalled on every Pixel 9 device.

Pixel Studio, much like Apple’s forthcoming Image Playground app that’s set to roll out on iOS 18 at some point after the operating system launches, lets you create an image from a prompt. Users can edit images after the fact, using the prompt box to add or subtract elements and change the feel or style of the picture.

During the onstage demo, a picture of a bonfire gradually changed into a beach hangout invite with the Golden Gate Bridge and fireworks in the background, made in a pixel art style and complete with invite details and stickers of the presenter’s friends pasted over it. The feature uses on-device AI and Google’s cloud-based Imagen 3 text-to-image model, and requires an internet connection to work.

The feature joins other AI capabilities that Google debuted for Pixel phones, like a new Pixel Screenshots feature that acts like Microsoft’s Recall feature, except instead of taking constant screenshots, you take each one manually.