[Maui, United States=DigitalToday reporter Dae-geon Seok] Google and Qualcomm are expanding the scope of their partnership from smartphones to laptops and cars. As AI use shifts from chatbots that answer questions to agentic AI that handles tasks on users’ behalf, the need is growing to jointly design on-device model processing and cloud processing, and the move is seen as an effort to respond actively.

Rick Osterloh (릭 오스터로), Google senior vice president, spoke on AI adoption and trends Google is watching at the Snapdragon Summit 2026 keynote in Maui, Hawaii, on Monday. Osterloh said, "Token use has increased sevenfold over the past year, and Gemini has become the fastest product in Google history to reach 1 billion monthly users." He added, "Another big trend is moving from chatbots and models to agentic experiences."

In line with that trend, Google is applying what it calls 'Gemini Intelligence,' which adds an intelligence layer to existing operating systems. Osterloh described it as "moving from an operating system to an intelligence system." Google aims to move beyond answering questions to an agent-based experience that helps users finish tasks. Gemini Intelligence was first applied to smartphones launched this year and is now included in Googlebook, and it will be expanded to all of Google’s platforms.

Google is working with Qualcomm to run this structure on devices. Osterloh said, "A transition is under way to full-stack solutions that include both local model processing and cloud processing." He said the two must work tightly together and must meet device heat and compute constraints. He added that such a transition requires deep cooperation across every layer of technology and said there is no way to deliver those capabilities without that cooperation.

Google plans, with user consent, for AI to understand a user’s current situation along with long-term usage history and preferences. Using himself as an example, Osterloh said, "AI knows that I like basketball, Mexican food and sunshine," and "I do not need to introduce myself again to AI every time I am trying to do something." He said that context must carry through when making voice requests in a car, using a smartphone, or working at a desktop, describing it as adding an 'ambient intelligence' layer.

Qualcomm also said it is designing with a direction of bringing intelligence closer to the processor. Amon said the two companies, based on what each does well, are "looking for solutions for things that do not exist yet."

◆From MSM7200 to Googlebook... collaboration 이어진 since Android’s early days

The two companies’ collaboration has continued since Android’s early days. When Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon (크리스티아노 아몬) said the two companies had to solve multiple technical challenges together when Android 'Cupcake' was launched, Osterloh responded by citing MSM7200 as their first joint project. The two recalled that their collaboration at the time has 이어진 to today’s Googlebook.

Qualcomm plans to build Googlebook as a new AI laptop category that brings the strengths of the Android ecosystem into the PC experience. Googlebook is equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon X Elite supports a personalised experience tailored to users’ work styles, with a design that takes into account all-day battery use and Gemini Intelligence.

Amon said the companies’ partnership is extending from smartphones to Googlebook and cars, and said, "Cars are suitable for agentic experiences." Osterloh also stressed, "The results of the two companies’ cooperation are now beginning to emerge."