The Pixel 10 Pro’s free AI Pro plan is a trap, don’t get fooled

The Pixel 10-series is Google’s most aggressive bet on AI yet. Year on year, the company keeps tacking on more AI-first features. From the camera to the notes app and elsewhere, the pitch is clear. This isn’t just another smartphone. Instead, it’s a showcase for how Google’s AI strategy ties directly to its hardware. But while the on-device LLM can do a lot, when it comes to heavy lifting, Google wants you to pop over into the Gemini app. More specifically, Gemini Pro. And to drive that point further, Google bundles in a free year of the Gemini AI Pro plan with the phone.

The perk is designed to funnel you into recurring payments, and storage is the bait.

In fact, I’d go as far as saying that the free year of Gemini Pro and 2TB of cloud storage are a key part of Google’s marketing to make the phone appear like a bargain. Two terabytes of cloud storage, access to Google’s best AI features, including Deep Research with Gemini 2.5 Pro. Add to that AI-enabled extras in access to AI filmmaking tools via Flow, image to video creation, and a 1000 monthly AI credits. Google even frames the cost of the phone as lower than it really is by subtracting the $239 value of the subscription’s sticker price. It sounds generous. Except, it is not. This perk is designed to funnel you into recurring payments, and storage is the bait.