According to a recent leak from Chinese social network Weibo, Xiaomi is working on making as many AI features as possible run completely offline on the phone. Behind the scenes, the term “native AI” is used for this method. And if the speculation is confirmed, it could be one of the biggest shifts in how AI smartphones will actually work in practice.
Many smart features today run through cloudelectronic storage. You write a prompt, edit a photo, have text or a summary generated – and the phone typically sends the data to a server, where the calculation is performed, and the result is returned. It works reliably, but it has two disadvantages that you can immediately recognize:
- you need an internet connection
- some data travels outside the device (even though manufacturers promise anonymization and protection)
“Native AI” does the opposite – the calculations are done directly on the device thanks to the NPU (neural processing unit on a chip) and possibly also thanks to a separate AI chipon which he now has Xiaomi allegedly work. This particular detail fits in with earlier hints that Xiaomi does not want to rely only on the standard Snapdragon/MediaTek performance, but wants to have extra "own muscle" for AI.
Gallery
Native AI will increase speed and security
The biggest advantages are obvious: speed and responsePhoto edits such as "delete object", local retouching, corrections or generative additions should be done immediately, without uploading to the server and waiting.
The second thing is privacy – if photos or voice commands stay on the phone, it's a more pleasant feeling for many people. I feel this especially with voice functions: when I know that something can run locally, I have fewer inhibitions about using it. And I don't have full trust in AI yet.
The leak also suggests that we could see the first prototypes of “native AI” from Xiaomi as early as this year. The most likely candidate for the first big launch is a series of Xiaomi 18It is in the new generation of flagships that the new architecture and extra hardware are best "hidden".
