Google has started testing “Call for Me,” a feature that lets Gemini call businesses on a user's behalf, according to TechCrunch, Wired and The Verge. The rollout is currently limited to Pixel 11 owners in the US, in English, who pay for a Gemini subscription.
The feature also requires the beta version of the Phone by Google app, underlining its experimental status. None of the three outlets reports a timeline for a wider release.
What Gemini can handle on a call
Users simply ask Gemini to make the call: the assistant dials the business, introduces itself, navigates automated phone menus and waits on hold until a person picks up, the three outlets report. Google says the feature can handle tasks like asking if a product is in stock, booking a restaurant reservation or rescheduling an appointment.
During the call, users can follow a live transcript and take over the conversation at any point, according to TechCrunch and The Verge. Wired reports that some businesses are off-limits, such as emergency services.
Not Google's first attempt
Google previously launched “Ask for Me” last year, which let Gemini call businesses to ask about pricing or services, but without an option for users to take over the call, The Verge notes. TechCrunch traces the effort back further, to a Google Assistant demo years ago in which the assistant called a salon to book an appointment at a developer conference.
Google says it is starting small because “real-world conversations are nuanced,” according to TechCrunch, and that it needs time to refine the feature across different accents and noisy environments, per Wired.
Google and Meta race to put AI on the phone
TechCrunch points to Meta as a direct rival, noting that Meta's Muse and Instinct agents can already make calls on users' behalf. The Verge adds that Meta is building a similar feature for Muse, though it reports those calls may still involve a human behind the scenes in some cases.
A decade of trying to make the phone dial itself
Wired notes that Google has been trying to get an AI assistant to make phone calls for almost 10 years. Duplex, built for the now-defunct Google Assistant, could call restaurants and book tables, but the service was shut down a few years ago. Call for Me is round two, this time powered by modern large language models.
According to Wired, if Gemini can't find a phone number for a business with little online presence, like a small tattoo shop, users can supply the number themselves. A Google spokesperson told the outlet that testing exactly these edge cases — tough accents, noisy environments, businesses that can't fulfill a request — is “exactly what we want to continue testing.”
The feature builds on other calling tools already on Android, Wired reports: Hold for Me, which listens for hold music to end and alerts the user when a person picks up; Direct My Call, which displays an automated menu's options on screen before they're even read aloud; and real-time Scam Detection, which warns users when it suspects a scammer is on the other end.
The launch shows that AI assistants making phone calls have moved from a novelty to an active battleground between major tech companies. Even so, Google itself frames the test as limited, and neither it nor the outlets covering the launch say when, or whether, the feature will move beyond this experimental stage.
Call screening is already common on modern smartphones, Wired notes, with Pixel, Samsung and iPhone assistants routinely intercepting unknown callers to ask why they're calling. Handling a full two-way conversation with a stranger is a different challenge, and Wired points out that a call can still go wrong if the person on the other end hangs up, assuming it's just another spam call.
