Google starts testing Gemini phone calls on Pixel 11

Google began an early preview of Call for Me on Thursday, a feature that has Gemini telephone a business and hold the conversation while the user watches a live transcript. It is going to Gemini subscribers enrolled in the Phone by Google beta on the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL and 11 Pro Fold, in the United States only.

Google said the assistant introduces itself, waits on hold, works through automated menus and may pass on personal information the user has approved. Calls go out from the user's own number, dialled from the phone. Users can take over at any point, according to Google. No independent test of how the feature behaves on a real call has been published.

The company framed the rollout as deliberately narrow. Real-world conversations are nuanced, Google said, and it is starting the experiment at a small scale to get the experience right before widening it. A Gemini subscription and beta enrolment are both required, which could keep the pool small for some time.

Google also addressed the businesses on the receiving end. It said calls made by Gemini on a user's behalf represent real customers conducting real transactions, and that it wants to respect the time of neighbourhood shops and front-desk staff. Whether the assistant identifies itself as AI on every call is not something Google has said.

Call for Me follows Direct My Call and Hold for Me, two earlier Pixel features that handled parts of a phone call rather than the whole of it, 9to5Google reported. TechCrunch listed the examples Google gave, among them asking a shop whether a product is in stock, booking a restaurant table and moving an appointment.