“I P 6 8! I P 6 8!,” shouted late-night host Jimmy Fallon, trying and failing to fake excitement about the new Pixel smartphones. Fallon, who likely had never heard the technical term before, didn’t seem to realize that IP68 — a rating that indicates phones can survive being submerged in water — isn’t all that interesting as a selling point, nor is this water-resistance feature new to Google’s Pixel line. It’s been around since the 2018 Pixel 3. We’re on the Pixel 10 now, for reference.
In a surreal moment that illustrated the tendency to overhype anything associated with AI advances, Google decided to pull out all the stops for its Pixel 10 live event on Wednesday.
Google’s new phones, of course, are interesting on their own merits, as they showcase how Google is integrating AI into everyday consumer experiences like taking photos, texting friends, translating phone calls, getting help out in the real world, and more.
The awkward event made Google feel out of touch, however. It also suggests that the company felt it needed buzz to cover up for a lack of tech advances, which is not the case. Whether people like it or not, Google is rushing ahead of Apple to put AI into the hands of consumers through its smartphones. Had the tech giant focused on that and shown real-world examples — not those involving celebrity racecar drivers, basketball stars, or Peloton personalities — it would have been better off.
Image Credits:Screenshot from Google’s live event
Instead, it went for buzz with paid celeb appearances, including event host Jimmy Fallon and others like Stephen Curry, podcaster Alex Cooper, the Jonas Brothers, and more. The result was a watered-down, cringey, and at times almost QVC-like sales event, which Reddit users immediately dubbed “unwatchable.”
In large part, this had to do with Fallon’s performance.
Trying to shift his goofy late-night persona to a corporate event, he ended up coming across as deeply uninterested in the technology, necessitating an over-the-top display of decidedly less-than-genuine enthusiasm.
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“This is exciting. It’s like a Taylor Swift album announcement for nerds,” he began, insulting the broad audience of people who would, in fact, tune in with interest to learn about the latest in smartphone and AI advances.
Attempting to be a stand-in for the “mainstream consumer,” whoever Google’s marketers believe that to be, Fallon interjected with banal questions, like what’s the meaning of “agentic” or why is everyone talking about AI in smartphones, or what’s a “walled garden?”
Image Credits:Screenshot from Google’s live event
These high-level questions led only to basic explanations from Google’s execs, like Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president, Platforms & Devices — a job that Fallon joked sounded “made up.” (It sounds like a pretty straightforward title to us, especially compared to much weirder tech jobs like chief happiness officer or digital prophet.)
Answers, as a result, were dumbed down for everyday users, despite the fact that they are probably very much interested in which AI models are being used, how they work, or whether their privacy is at risk when running AI on their personal devices.
During the event, Fallon showed little reaction or curiosity about the interesting tidbits, like when Osterloh noted that Google’s AI assistant Gemini is coming to its augmented reality glasses. Yet he pretended to be an avid user of some tech that he was clearly just shown how to use, like Circle to Search, which lets users do a Google search by tapping, circling, or highlighting anything on their screen.
At another point, Fallon held up signs with quotes from supposed Reddit users about how great Pixel phones are. “This first person says, ‘whenever I’m using a phone without Circle to Search, I feel like I’m in the Stone Age,” said Fallon. (C’mon, Google, no one said that. Ever. And certainly not a Redditor.)
Later, Fallon embraced Google Vice President of Marketing Adrienne Lofton like a BFF and feigned excitement over a table covered with smartphones, watches, and earbuds. (Osterloh had meanwhile gone for the handshake-quick-back-pat combo.)
Lofton, looking hip in a denim-tuxedo j …