Google TV Welcomes Gemini AI, First on TCL

Google is bringing its flagship Gemini AI to where people actually use it: the living room. The company is distributing Gemini on Google TV now, launching on TCL’s new QM9K range and coming to the Google TV Streamer, Walmart’s Onn 4K Pro, Hisense U7 and upcoming U8 and UX models, as well as TCL QM7K, QM8K and X11K ranges soon. It’s an easy enough pitch: more casual interactions with your big screen, not all shouted commands.

What Gemini can do on your big screen and beyond

Instead of clunky voice searches, Gemini allows you to speak to your TV in plain language. Request “comedies with smart humor from the past few years,” or say “find that new hospital drama everyone is talking about,” and it will pull up likely matches. It can attract reviews, condense plots and make watch-next suggestions personalized to your taste and mood.

The assistant even extends beyond entertainment. Students can request explainers on difficult topics and receive recommended YouTube lessons. Step‑by‑step video guides for cooking techniques or guitar chords are available to hobbyists who request them. You can simply say “Hey Google” to easily call up Gemini or press the mic button on the remote, perfect for that mid‑recipe or mid‑workout moment.

This is more than just the old voice assistant with a new name. Generative models love ambiguity, so Gemini can even manage follow‑ups like “make it something PG‑13” or “shorter episodes, please.” That conversational circuit is the one Google’s hoping will turn casual queries into real time spent.

Where you’ll see Gemini on Google TV first and next

The first volley comes to TCL’s QM9K series, standing for Quantum Moves 9K, a flagship line that gives Google its top-of-the-range platform. Up next are mainstream devices taking Gemini further into the home: the Google TV Streamer dongle, Walmart’s price‑focused Onn 4K Pro and 2025 versions of Hisense U7, U8 and UX models, as well as TCL’s QM7K, QM8K and X11K sets. With TCL and Hisense among the world’s leading global TV shippers, according to Omdia, this rollout also reaches a massive installed base at breakneck speed.

For users, nothing new to learn—if your screen or remote already supports Google TV voice input, Gemini is just a drop‑in upgrade.

Anticipate a phased rollout, with feature parity somewhat dependent on manufacturer and model, especially if far‑field microphones or premium processors are included.

The AI race in the living room and who’s leading it

Gemini’s come‑on comes in the wake of a broader wave of AI‑first TVs. Microsoft has teamed up with a leading TV brand to integrate Copilot into some of its models, and Amazon has been integrating generative features into Fire TV for search and recommendations. These shifts are less about novelty than owning the “query” that kicks off each viewing session.

Industry data underscores the stakes. Research groups estimate that the vast majority of households now have at least one connected TV, and streaming hours are outpacing linear viewing in many markets. If the living room does become AI’s next native surface (after phones and PCs), then “whatever ends up making the discovery experience easiest will shape what people actually watch, buy or learn about,” he said.

How it works on Google TV and what to expect next

Under the hood, Gemini almost certainly combines on‑device signal processing (for hotword detection and basic command control) with cloud‑based processing for more complex requests, much like modern assistants. That hybrid method keeps latency low and draws on massive models for finer‑grained recommendations and summaries. Look for multimodal features next, like richer context from what’s on screen or deeper links to your watch history across apps you’ve connected.

Developers stand to benefit, too. As Google opens up additional Gemini hooks in Android TV OS, streaming apps and smart‑home services could register capabilities that the assistant would be able to directly invoke. Tell it “movies shot on IMAX cameras,” and a compatible app could hop instantly to a curated rail; say, “dim the lights for movie night” so your scene triggers automatically alongside playback.

Privacy, controls, and family use with Gemini on Google TV

Voice on the couch poses the same questions. Google’s account‑level controls—such as activity settings, voice and audio toggles and per‑app permissions—also come into play here, and TV manufacturers can add their own device‑level privacy options. Families can rely on profiles, content ratings and other features to ensure that recommendations and results are age‑appropriate—along with Family Link and YouTube Kids.

For those who are suspicious of always‑listening mics, remotes still provide push‑to‑talk, and most TV models also make it obvious when the microphone is active. It’s worth checking these permissions on first run; the trade‑off will be better suggestions, but the cost will be more sharing of data with the assistant.

Bottom line on Gemini arriving on Google TV devices

With Gemini being added directly into Google TV, Google is transforming the TV into a conversational surface. The feature set is still primitive—smarter discovery, vague‑to‑precise follow‑ups and quick‑learning assistance are needed to beat the old listen‑and‑pray model of legacy assistants. With TCL and Hisense taking Gemini to mass‑market hardware, and rivals pushing their own AI, your next binge or recipe or study session could begin with a simple question to the biggest screen in your home.