GPU maker Imagination may have accidentally confirmed its Google Tensor G5 role (Update: Probably not)

Update, March 24, 2025 (11:56 AM ET): It looks like we’re going to have to keep searching for further confirmation of Imagination Technologies working with Google on the Tensor G5, as the tables discussed below, removed from a WeChat social media post, may not be the evidence we were looking for. Mobiletelefon.ru managed to track down what appears to be the original source of the tables that mentioned the Imagination/Google connection: documentation on GitHub for a project to bring Imagination GPU support to RISC-V systems.

Those tables, however, add an additional column that references the source of this data, and for the Tensor G5 entry, they point to a reblog of none other than our own Tensor G5 exclusive from last fall. So essentially, this is nothing more than our original association between Imagination and Google, and does not corroborate any work on the Tensor G5.

Original article, March 22, 2025 (07:00 AM ET): Just as Google has done for the past few generations, this year’s upcoming Pixel 10 smartphones should be equipped with the company’s latest custom chip: the Tensor G5. This one has been looking like it could easily be Google’s most exciting smartphone processor to date, moving from Samsung to TSMC for fabrication. We’ve already been able to bring you some exclusive reports on what to expect from this hardware, and today we’ve got what could be a bit of corroboration to share.

Last fall, we broke news that Google was planning to abandon the Arm Mali-G715 GPU it employed in both the Tensor G3 and G4 — and, in fact, would give up on Mali GPUs altogether. Instead, we identified the Imagination Technologies DXT-48-1536 as the G5’s likely replacement, capable of modern feats like ray tracing.

Last month, Japan hosted the RISC-V Day Tokyo, a conference for parties interested in the architecture. Postgraduate student Yang Yanling prepared a blog post about the event discussing RISC-V and integration with Imagination GPU IP. Imagination then shared this post on WeChat.

Right now, if you access that post you won’t find anything in particular connecting it with Google and its plans for the Pixel 10. But it appears that this may be an edited version of a longer blog entry that also included some now-absent tables outlining the use of Imagination GPUs in various chips. And down at the bottom there are a couple very interesting entries:

Not only do we see the Tensor G5 associated with the same DXT-48-1536 we were expecting, but this also appears to reveal that Xiaomi is working on a new chip of its own that could also incorporate an Imagination GPU.

We need to emphasize that we have no way to directly confirm that this table was initially published as you see it here, and all we really have to go on is a screenshot of the post (thanks: Quarks on Telegram).

Screenshots can absolutely be faked, but so far we haven’t uncovered any reason to suspect that this one may have been altered in any way. In fact, if you pull up the post as it’s currently shared by Imagination, you can see a gap between two sections exactly where the tables exist in our screenshots, that doesn’t show up elsewhere in the blog. That’s far from proof, but could be seen supporting the narrative that the tables were removed after the fact.

Are you excited about what this kind of possible big GPU move could mean for gaming on the Pixel 10? Do you think Google’s making the right choices with its continued investment in its own silicon, or would the company fare better by just putting some off-the-shelf Snapdragon chips in Pixel phones? Make your case down in the comments.