In a recent announcement, Google unveiled that its AI, Gemini, will soon be equipped to handle complex tasks on smartphones, such as ordering food or booking a ride. This feature will debut on the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and the newly launched Samsung Galaxy S26. The move draws parallels to Apple’s earlier promises for Siri, showcased at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference. However, those Siri enhancements were postponed in March 2025 and remain unreleased to this day.

During the presentation, Sameer Samat, Google’s Android president, demonstrated Gemini’s capabilities in a prerecorded video. The scenario involved sorting out a pizza order from a bustling family group chat. Samat instructed Gemini to interpret the conversation and place an order via a delivery app. The demonstration showed Gemini identifying preferences from the chat, displaying them, and facilitating the order through GrubHub. Once the order was prepared, Gemini notified the user to review and finalize the submission.

While the task of ordering food via an app like GrubHub or directly calling a pizzeria isn’t overly complex, this development signifies a significant leap for agentic AI. Google has recently enabled Gemini to auto-browse in Chrome, and integrating this functionality within Android seems like a natural evolution. Google aspires for Gemini to be perceived as a productivity partner, rather than just another AI model or chatbot.

If Google manages to roll out these agentic features as promised—and if Apple doesn’t make a surprise move—Google could outpace Apple in delivering some of the most anticipated features from Apple’s 2024 demo. Apple had showcased Siri’s potential to comprehend and act on screen content, such as adding an address from a message to a contact card, or pulling flight information from emails. However, these capabilities remain unavailable, with some possibly not arriving until iOS 27, as reported by Bloomberg.

The anticipation surrounding Gemini’s new functionalities is tempered by uncertainty. These features need to be launched and tested to assess their practical utility. Labeled as a “beta,” there might be initial hiccups. Additionally, the extent to which developers will permit Gemini to navigate their apps remains unclear, presenting what Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel dubs the “DoorDash problem.” Google indicates that Gemini will operate within “select rideshare and food apps,” leaving room for speculation about its broader application.

There are still many questions about Gemini’s new capabilities, of course. They’ll need to actually ship. We’ll have to try them to see if they are as useful and functional as advertised — Google is calling this initial launch a “beta,” so there could be some rough edges. And we don’t know how many developers will actually let Gemini browse through their apps on behalf of users, which Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel likes to call the DoorDash problem. (Google says Gemini will be able to work in “select rideshare and food apps.”)

But Google seems to have leapfrogged Apple in a big way, and now Apple has even more to do to catch up.