Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Google has already had a pretty eventful year, rebranding its AI chatbot from Bard to Gemini and releasing several new AI models. At Google I/O, we expect the company to make even more announcements regarding AI, and unveil new hardware for the first time this year.
Google sent out event invites to the press — including ZDNET — which revealed that the annual developer conference is taking place on May 14 and 15 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA.
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The keynote event, which is when Google leaders take the stage to unveil the company’s latest hardware and software, is going to take place on the first day of the conference at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET.
Although the invite doesn’t specify details about video streaming, you can expect the company to live stream the event on YouTube and its website as it usually does for members of the public and press who can’t attend in person.
Developers can register for the event on the Google I/O landing page for free to take advantage of perks such as getting email updates and accessing on-demand sessions.
Google’s event description on both the invite and the website was vague. The invite read, “Learn about Google’s newest developer tools and discover how they fuel innovation and enhance your workflow for maximum productivity.”
However, given the announcements already made this year, we expect the focal point of the event to be artificial intelligence. At last year’s I/O, AI was also the crown jewel of the event with major announcements including two new large language models (PaLM 2 and Gemini), new AI features in Android 14, an improved chatbot, and more.
Similarly this year, you can expect to learn more about the new features on Android 15, which will likely feature a myriad of new AI capabilities, updates to Gemini (formerly Bard), and maybe even a new large language model.
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The event will presumably showcase some new hardware too. If Google follows last year’s precedent, it will unveil a new smartphone, the Pixel 8A. The Pixel 7A, revealed at least year’s event, proved to be an impressive A-series device and mid-range smartphone when reviewed by ZDNET.
Google I/O is notorious for throwing surprises, so it is a good rule of thumb to expect something no one is talking about. ZDNET will be covering the event, so even if you can’t tune in, you can check the site for the latest updates.