Google wants Gemini to handle one of the most annoying parts of modern life: calling a business and waiting for an answer. Its new Call for Me feature lets Gemini make certain calls for Pixel 11 owners, ask questions, and return with the information they need.
Google announced the experimental beta feature on Thursday. It is available only on the latest Pixel 11 smartphones in the US and works in English, so the first test is limited to a specific group of users.
How Call for Me works
Pixel 11 owners need a Gemini subscription and must enroll in the Phone by Google app’s public beta. Once set up, Call for Me can contact a business, ask whether a specific tool is in stock, or schedule a haircut. Gemini handles the conversation while the user waits for the result.
The feature uses the same voice heard during Gemini Live interactions. That remains true even if the user has selected a different Gemini voice with an accent. Google is also testing improvements for Gemini across accents and noisy environments, which matters when an automated assistant has to understand a real phone conversation.
Google says Call for Me works best with businesses, but it will not call emergency services. If a business cannot meet the user’s needs, Gemini will politely hang up. That boundary keeps the feature focused on routine tasks instead of urgent calls.
Phone calls remain unpredictable, though. A person on the other end may hang up because they assume the call is spam, especially when they hear an unfamiliar voice or a pause before the conversation begins.
A decade-long idea returns
Google has tried to make its AI assistant call businesses on a user’s behalf for almost 10 years. Its earlier effort, Google Duplex, enabled the now-defunct Google Assistant to call restaurants and book tables. Google shuttered the Duplex service a few years ago, but Call for Me brings the basic idea back through Gemini and the Pixel 11.
The Phone by Google app already includes several tools for managing calls. It can screen incoming calls, block robocalls and telemarketers, and help users navigate automated phone systems through Hold for Me and Direct My Call.
Hold for Me alerts the user when hold music ends and a live person is on the other end. Direct My Call displays choices from an automated phone menu before the system speaks them, giving users a clearer way to choose an option.
The app also includes Real-time Scam Detection, which alerts users when the assistant thinks the person on the other end is trying to scam them. Call for Me extends this group of features from managing incoming calls to placing certain outgoing calls.
Businesses are also experimenting with AI tools that interface with customers. Pizza My Heart, for example, has a chatbot for ordering pizza. That creates a phone system where AI may handle both sides of a customer interaction, depending on how a business and a caller use these tools.
Google and OpenAI push phone-based AI
Google’s move arrives alongside an update from OpenAI. ChatGPT Voice can now perform tasks across connected apps from a phone or CarPlay. Users can command the mobile app to check email or summarize files in Google Drive.
These features point to a broader shift in how people use AI assistants. Instead of only answering questions inside a chat, the assistants can take action through services that users already rely on. Gemini focuses on calls through the Phone by Google app, while ChatGPT Voice reaches into connected apps.
That shift also makes reliability more important. An assistant that summarizes a file can be corrected inside the app, but an assistant that calls a business must understand speech, handle interruptions, and know when to end the conversation. Google’s work on accents and noisy environments addresses part of that challenge, while its limits around emergency services define where Call for Me should not be used.
Gemini’s wider development continues
Call for Me is one piece of Google’s broader Gemini effort. The Gemini 3 series was released in November 2025, and a Gemini 3.5 Pro update was planned for June. Google DeepMind has also seen leadership changes, with Demis Hassabis stepping down in August and Koray Kavukcuoglu serving as the DeepMind chief.
Kavukcuoglu described the team’s plans in ambitious terms: “Our intention is to, like — as soon as possible — to release an early post-training output because we see the results and we are excited.” He also said, “In my mind, it’s a certainty that we are always gonna be at the frontier.”
For now, Call for Me gives that larger Gemini push a practical test. Pixel 11 owners can ask an assistant to handle small but tedious conversations, while Google learns how well the system works with real businesses, changing voices, background noise, and people who may not expect an AI caller.
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