Google Gemini gains ability to call businesses on users' behalf

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Sep 26, 2026, 19:17 UTC

On September 24, 2026, Google launched a feature called Call for Me, giving Gemini the ability to place phone calls to local businesses on behalf of users. The feature is restricted to Pixel 11 owners in the United States who hold a paid Gemini subscription. Once a user instructs Gemini through the Gemini app, the AI introduces itself to the business, navigates automated phone menus, and waits on hold to complete tasks such as booking reservations, checking whether a product is in stock, or rescheduling an appointment. Google has described the rollout as an early experiment, signaling that the scope is deliberately narrow at launch.

The feature matters because it moves AI assistants from answering questions to taking autonomous action in the real world, specifically by initiating voice contact with third parties who have no direct relationship with the user or Google. That shift raises a question that goes beyond convenience: what obligations, if any, exist toward the businesses receiving these calls? Those businesses must staff the phones, absorb hold time, and handle call volume regardless of whether the caller is a human or an AI agent. The framing of Call for Me as a user benefit sits in tension with the experience on the receiving end, and that tension is what is genuinely in dispute.

Because no specific reactions from the Pro-AI, Anti-AI, or Middle Ground camps have been published yet, what follows reflects what each camp would typically argue about a story like this. The Pro-AI camp would likely highlight the genuine utility of the feature, pointing to the everyday friction of waiting on hold and arguing that Gemini handling that friction is a straightforward productivity gain. The Anti-AI camp would almost certainly frame the feature as Google deploying AI robocalls at scale, shifting a burden from individual users onto businesses and their employees without consent. A middle-ground position would probably acknowledge both sides, accepting the user convenience while calling for disclosure standards, such as requiring the AI to identify itself clearly, and potentially for regulatory guidance on what AI-initiated calls are permitted to do.

The detail to watch going forward is whether Google expands Call for Me beyond the Pixel 11 and the current subscription tier, and whether any regulatory body, particularly the Federal Communications Commission given its existing robocall authority, moves to clarify whether AI-initiated calls fall under existing rules or require new ones. A broader rollout or a formal regulatory inquiry would be the clearest signal of which set of concerns is winning the argument.