Google May Have Leaked Its Next Fitbit—Or Let AI Hallucinate It

Google may have accidentally leaked the first images of its next Fitbit wearable. In ads for the Pixel 11 series spotted by users on Reddit , the company included an unannounced fitness tracker or smartwatch that isn’t the Fitbit Air or the new Pixel Watch 5 .

The ads appeared on YouTube and showcased Pixel 11 phones surrounded by watch bands, the Pixel Watch 5, and the mysterious wearable. The device, which features an oblong screen that appears to be larger than the 1.04-inch one on the Fitbit Charge 6 , also has an interface reminiscent of Google’s Wear OS 7 . So far, Google has tried to differentiate its cheaper Fitbit devices from its more premium Pixel ones, so the fact that this new wearable is being advertised alongside the Pixel Watch 5 is unusual. That could suggest the device is some sort of cheaper version of the Pixel Watch rather than a new Fitbit.

Pixel 11 ads show a mysterious screen-equipped tracker that's not Pixel Watch 5 or Fitbit Air [Gallery] https://t.co/P1eqAcwYKQ by @nexusben

It’s been three years since Google released the Fitbit Charge 6 in 2023, so it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising if the company were working on an upgrade, though. The Charge 6 features a more accurate heart rate sensor than the Charge 5 and the ability to track your activity, sleep, and stress, but Google also leaned hard on it being a Fitbit tracker with “Google smarts.” That’s something it’s only continued to do with the AI Health Coach it launched alongside the Fitbit Air. A Charge 7, besides the requisite sensor upgrades, would presumably also be all about AI-powered features.

Besides Google accidentally leaking its own wearable, one other explanation is that the device is itself a product of AI. Google offers its advertising customers the ability to generate ads with its Nano Banana Pro mode , so why wouldn’t the company use the same tools for its own products? Maybe this strange new wearable is just a hallucination that slipped in with the likely hundreds or thousands of image and video assets Google creates for a new Pixel launch. As 9to5Google notes, it certainly seems strange that the company would make the same mistake for multiple versions of the ad (users have spotted the device in ads for both the white and green models of the Pixel 11), but it’s not impossible.

The Fitbit Air arrived alongside a growing interest in screenless wearables, but given the higher starting price of the Pixel Watch 5, there could be room for something that’s like a smartwatch but costs less than $400. Whether the wearable in these ads is that device remains to be seen.

Gizmodo has asked Google to comment on the ads and whether they were published by mistake. We’ll update this post if the company responds.