Google Clips
Google trained a tiny camera to decide when family life looked worth recording, sold it for $249 and withdrew it after less than two years.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Officially Gone
- Peak stage
- general availability
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
A formally sold automatic camera that used on-device machine learning to capture short silent clips.
Owners placed or clipped the square device near family and pets while its algorithms selected candid moments without a shutter press.
Existence timeline
Google presents its automatic family camera.
Clips reaches normal public availability.
Owners evaluate automatic framing and familiar-face detection.
Google removes the device from its store.
Owners retain local use without new product development.
Google's promised post-sale window expires.
Why it ended
Google removed Clips from sale in October 2019 and promised existing owners support only through December 2021.
Last confirmed trace
Working hardware, the surviving help centre, locally stored recordings and launch documentation preserve the experiment.
What it left behind
Clips anticipated consumer AI cameras while exposing how difficult it is to make automated selection feel trustworthy and useful.
How we classified it
The archive unit reached normal public release or operation and is no longer obtainable in its original public form.
Verified normal public availability maps to 100 under Arrival Score V1.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.