And every Pixel user I know in real life bought a Pixel to use GrapheneOS or CalyxOS. Literally all us would have chosen a different phone if we couldn't easily change the software. I'm sure average people buy Pixels, I've just never met one.

I hear you. However, I have a 1 TB Pixel 9 Pro XL running Google OS. I switched my daily driver from GrapheneOS when I upgraded. I kinda saw this coming. I also wanted the AI integration for business enhanced productivity. I choose what data I want Google to have access to, but I want it to have full access to that data. I can easily say that I have saved a ton of time and productivity has doubled as a result of Gemini integration throughout Google's entire suite of products. Like, Proton is great, but it's just not there yet compared to what Google has to offer for business users. The workflow automation alone with Gemini handling everything from email drafts to document analysis is genuinely game-changing for productivity. I practice security through isolation and compartmentalization and I have been quite happy running Google OS on the latest Pixel. Different threat models call for different approaches. They basically knocked Samsung through the door with AI integration and productivity. Samsung's recent marketing basically calls out the elephant in the room - the only positioning they have left in the game is their Galaxy Z Fold6 and flip phones, which I have no use for. Everything else Google just does better now, especially with the Tensor G4 chip optimized specifically for their AI workloads. There is definitely a large and growing segment of power users who want the full Google ecosystem for legitimate productivity gains.

I know 20+ people personally that own a Pixel for a specific reason (Graphene). I know 2 that own it because they are Google fans. Let them kill their market. We're better off without them.