‘Gemini built in’ will bring Google Home AI features to more third-party speakers this year

Ben Schoon | May 21 2026 - 9:30 am PT

On the back of a ton of Gemini announcements at I/O 2026, Google is today announcing “Gemini built in” as a new solution that brings AI features to third-party devices including speakers, cameras, and more.

Building on a lot of improvements to Gemini for Home in recent months, Google has three more big updates to share, mostly happening behind the scenes. This includes opening the door to developers for some of Gemini’s most powerful smart home features, which Google says include the same tools that built out features like “Ask Home” and Nest Cam’s intelligent scene recognition.

Another advancement is allowing carriers and internet service providers to integrate Google Home Premium and Gemini features into their apps and services. AT&T will apparently leverage this in its Connected Life security service, including Nest Cam AI features. AT&T announced Google integration for Connected Life late last year.

Perhaps the biggest announcement today, at least on the consumer side, is an expansion of “Gemini built in.”

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Google is putting out a turnkey solution for third-party brands that, like in the Assistant days, will provide Gemini features for devices outside of the Nest ecosystem. The program will provide reference designs that include all of the needed hardware to build out Gemini hardware, with Google specifically focusing on cameras and speakers – the latter being new this year. We saw the first cameras built on this program last year in Walmart’s remarkably affordable Onn hardware.

Google says:

Smart cameras: Partners can bypass long development cycles to launch high-performance, Gemini-capable cameras with our Camera Reference Design.

New for 2026 – smart speakers: Our Speaker Reference Design allows you to build high-fidelity speakers that support the full Gemini voice experience, acting as the command center for the home.

With this in mind, we’re likely to see a lot of new Gemini smart speakers hitting the market. Again, it seems Walmart is one of Google’s first partners here, as an Onn-branded Gemini smart speaker recently leaked.

Google teases a few of the upcoming devices in the picture below, though the exact brands or devices aren’t mentioned.