Google has announced a significant milestone in its ongoing fight against mobile threats, revealing that its built-in AI defenses on the Android platform now protect users from over 10 billion suspected malicious calls and messages every single month. This large-scale protection system leverages on-device artificial intelligence to automatically identify and filter potential threats, providing a critical layer of security for its global user base against a constant barrage of scams.

The announcement, made on Thursday, highlights the sheer volume of attacks faced by mobile users. The system’s ability to thwart more than 10 billion monthly threats is a testament to the effectiveness of Google’s security strategy, which has evolved in recent years to combat sophisticated phone call scams and spam messages.

AI-Driven Filtering and Proactive Blocking

At the core of this defense is an on-device AI that automatically filters known spam. When a suspicious message is detected, the Google Messages app seamlessly moves it to the “spam & blocked” folder, minimizing user interaction with potentially dangerous content. This process happens directly on the user’s device, which enhances both privacy and efficiency. In addition to filtering incoming threats, Google is also taking proactive steps to stop scams at their source. The company confirmed it has successfully blocked over 100 million suspicious numbers from using Rich Communication Services (RCS), the modern protocol designed to replace SMS. This preventative action stops malicious actors before they can even send their scam messages over the RCS network.

Enhanced User Safeguards with Safer Links

To further bolster user protection, Google also recently completed the global rollout of a “safer links” feature within Google Messages. This important safeguard activates when a user attempts to click on a URL within a message that has been flagged as spam. Instead of immediately opening the link, the feature presents a warning, advising the user about the potential danger. This crucial intervention helps prevent users from inadvertently visiting harmful websites designed for phishing or malware distribution. Users can only proceed to the site if they deliberately mark the original message as “not spam,” adding a deliberate step to bypass the security alert.

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2025/10/googles-built-in-ai-defenses-on-android.html