Here are Fairphone’s plans for AI.
Apple has Apple Intelligence, Samsung has Galaxy AI, Google has Gemini. At Fairphone, we’re excited about the possibilities of AI and what it means for us… but also wary of the costs involved. And we’re not talking money.
The environmental consequences of AI are scary… as of right now, at least.
While there is still a lot of speculation about exactly how much energy is used for doing the things that artificial intelligence does, the consensus is that it uses A LOT. While a single query on ChatGPT is said to use less energy than a light bulb powered on for a full minute, this adds up when you have millions of users asking all sorts of questions to OpenAI’s game-changing tech. Cutting-edge large-language models like GPT require a lot of computing power, using up hundreds of megawatt-hours for a single training run. Then, there’s the energy costs of maintaining the infrastructure associated with AI, from the servers to the cooling to the networking. It has been reported Google’s seen a 48% surge in their emissions since 2019, assumed to be a result of Gemini’s training sessions. In 2022, the company reported a 13% increase in greenhouse gas emissions as well, and while it hasn’t been singularly attributed to their AI use, people are assuming the link.
Having said that, it’s not all gloom and doom. There is already a considerable push towards renewable energy to power these data centers. Since 2017, Google has matched 100% of its data center and office energy usage with renewable energy purchases, aiming to operate entirely on carbon-free energy by 2030. In December 2024, the company announced a $20 billion investment in renewable energy, with plans to build cleaner energy systems, battery storage, and grid upgrades to power Google’s data centers. Google also utilizes AI developed by DeepMind to optimize cooling mechanisms at their data centers, reducing the energy used by a whopping 40%. That’s fighting fire with fire in the best way possible.
Our idea of innovation has always been different
This brings us to our next point. While the buzzword for innovation in 2025 seems to be AI, we have always seen it differently. For us, real innovation is about solving real-world problems. Like electronic waste, planned obsolescence, unfair working conditions, to name a few. Our focus will continue to be tackling these issues; batting for repairability and longer life spans, improved recycling and take-back mechanisms, better workers’ rights. These are issues that need fixing right now, and are much higher up on our list of priorities right now.
That’s not to say the latest Fairphones won’t have AI features.
We already do.
The Fairphone 5 supports Google Gemini out of the box
The Fairphone 5, which currently runs on Android 14, already supports many Google Gemini features, though not all of them. Google has made some Gemini functionalities exclusive to the Pixel, and they decide if and when they will roll these features out to other Android devices.
So what can Gemini do for you with Fairphone? Long-pressing the power button or flicking the screen from the bottom-left should bring up the Gemini assistant—if it doesn’t, you might need to open the Gemini app on your phone and change your specific settings. You can use Gemini to ask questions, summarize data, get contextual information about what’s on your screen, translate stuff in real time, and much more. Gemini also offers AI-powered photo editing, which means you can seamlessly cut out people and objects from photos with the click of a button. It’s also worth mentioning that our camera systems in both the Fairphone 4 and 5 use AI algorithms to optimize auto settings and for post-processing, especially in low-light conditions.
Tip: If you can’t find Google Gemini on your phone, you might need to download it to your device from the Play Store. The app is compatible with Fairphone 4 and Fairphone 3+ as well, although all features might not work.
While we do offer Gemini features, we still understand everyone might not be as excited about AI, especially given the environmental impacts and privacy concerns that it comes with. That’s why it’s important for you to know that you can actively choose to switch off Gemini on your phone as well. Access the Settings menu on your device, and scroll down to the Google submenu. From here, click All Services, and then Search, Assistant and Voice. Here, you will see the different digital assistants available on your device and the option to switch them off. You can also monitor the data being used by Gemini either through the app, or through your Google profile settings via a web browser.
To sum up…
As it stands, we will not be working on a Fairphone AI assistant for now. Instead, Fairphoners can use Google’s robust Gemini assistant to scratch that AI-ssistant itch. We will continue using AI where we can see it tangibly improve the user experience, like camera optimization and low-light imaging, for example. Meanwhile, we’re looking into the behind-the-scenes of AI, in terms of energy consumption and emissions and so on. We are always open to ideas where we can use AI to optimize operations while still being energy efficient. In the meantime, we will continue to innovate where it matters more to us; making the industry a fairer place for everyone.
Head to our shop to pick up the Fairphone 5, now with Google Gemini
For a more privacy-focused, deGoogled experience, check out the Fairphone 5 /e/OS version
