Intel has confirmed it is powering Googlebook, Google’s premium AI laptop wheeze which mixes Android and ChromeOS in one shiny box.
Google announced its new laptop line at its annual I/O event, calling it Googlebook. The machines are aimed at the premium end and designed for AI features such as Gemini.
Google is not giving away much detail yet. What it has said is that Googlebook laptops will offer a new operating system experience that combines Android, Google Play, and ChromeOS.
Gemini will sit at the centre of the Googlebook experience. The search outfit has created something it calls Magic Pointer for the new operating system. Users can shake the pointer to enable Gemini mode, putting Google’s AI tricks at their fingertips.
The laptops will support Android applications natively, without having to fake the Android experience on a laptop.
Users will be able to create their own widgets through Gemini, which sounds useful until every desktop becomes a shrine to AI clutter.
During the announcement, Google named five OEM partners that will build Googlebook laptops for punters. They include Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo.
Now Google’s biggest partner in the Googlebook project has stepped forward, and it is Intel.
In a post on X, Chipzilla said it was thrilled to partner with Google on Googlebook. The company called the machines “Premium, Powerful devices designed for intelligence”.
That more or less confirms Chipzilla is supplying the silicon for Googlebook, and the Tame Apple Press claims it is because the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple’s MacBook Neo has caused a bit of grief in the mainstream laptop market.
Chipzilla already has a counter plan with its Core Series 3 Wildcat Lake CPU family. That line is expected to bring a flood of mainstream laptops into the market in the coming quarters.
At the same time, Chipzilla and Google have created Googlebook to open a second front against Job’s Mob. The idea is to attack MacBook Neo with x86 architectures across the board.
The chip Google will use remains a mystery. It could be custom silicon designed and produced at Chipzilla, or it could be a Wildcat Lake variant tuned for Googlebook.
Googlebook is not replacing Chromebook for now, as those machines will keep being sold. Still, the word “powerful” from Chipzilla suggests these will not be low-spec bargain-basement laptops.
Full details are expected closer to launch, which is set for autumn 2026.
Chipzilla has already signed a deal with Jobs’ Mob to produce mainstream system-on-chip, which means the next Neo could be made by Chipzilla itself. That leaves Chipzilla trying to beat Apple while still building it bits.
