With the Tensor chip in Pixel 6 and all the Android features it unlocks, feels like Google just became a Monopoly since no other Android phone makers can compete?

Monopoly is just a board game these days.

Every corporate overlord knows you just have to line the pockets of a few congressmen with a couple thousand bucks and you don't need to worry about it.

Idk, there's nothing stopping other chip manufacturers from adding tensor cores to their chips, and soon that's going to be standard on most devices.

@hitko how, tensor core is by Google, for it's own devices? No?

similar to how apple makes it's own chips?

@donuts Tensor core / TPU is nothing but a dedicated processor unit for tensor operations, graphic cards and higher-end CPUs had those for years. Google integrated their own solution into their smartphone CPU, but other chip manufacturers can do exactly the same with their own tensor cores, and probably will do so in the near future now that Google gave them a reason to.

@hitko but only Google's can unlock the software capabilities like how only some apps work on Pixel phones?

Or only some devices supported DayDream though hardware wise a lot of phones could. On my old rooted OP6, just needed to change some system properties to make it look like a Pixel...

@donuts These are two separate things.

Tensor core allows Google to run real-time ML models on their smartphones, and that's something any device with a dedicated tensor unit can / will be able to do. It doesn't restrict other companies' ability to provide the same level of functionality with their own devices.

On the other hand, Google has always been able to limit their own software functionality (i.e. software not part of Android open source project) based on device or even country / region where the device is being used. That won't change, although if they use these new chips as an excuse for more restrictions, it might give other companies an additional initiative to get rid of Google's proprietary apps.

@hitko the only place that has worked is in China.... Because Google is banned.

Only other place I guess Kindle...

And at least for me, after getting it, I installed the Play Store using the Fire ToolKit...

@donuts Sure, there are ways to bypass those, there are also cases (at least in Europe) where Google and other companies were forced to lift certain restrictions and e.g. make it easier for people to use third-party app providers. But going back to the original post, new tensor chips are only advantageous until some other chip manufacturer includes a dedicated tensor unit in their own chips. Since most chip manufacturers already provide dedicated tensor units in their more advanced products, that's only a matter of integrating them in new mobile chips.

@hitko https://link.medium.com/nWzEEcujxkb

OK I see what you mean, TPU is a chip type... that I guess Googled pioneered but others also make now.

Thought Tensor was only made by Google so they would control all the supply.

Though article says it only resides in the cloud so maybe old.... But then who else can make them?

@donuts That's just one use case for those chips. Right now Google offers powerful TPUs for machine learning in the cloud, and simplified TPU chips for running those models "on the edge" (i.e. on phones, in cars, etc.). Similarly Nvidia offers powerful GPUs with tensor cores, and smaller, energy-efficient units for edge devices (e.g. Jetson). Intel does the same, as do other manufacturers. Here's an article which compares Intel, Nvidia, and Google's edge solutions from 2 years ago: https://soon-yau.medium.com/battle-... Here's also what Qualcomm introduced last year: https://techrepublic.com/article/...