News/Google
Destination unknown: AI creates fake travel destinations so convincing they fool real tourists
Artificial intelligence has evolved beyond generating fake product reviews and suspicious emails—it's now creating entirely fictional travel destinations that can fool even savvy travelers. A couple recently drove hours to experience the "Kuak Skyride," a picturesque mountaintop cable car they'd discovered through a compelling online video featuring smiling tourists and professional narration. When they arrived at the supposed location in Malaysia, they found only a small town whose residents had never heard of any cable car attraction. The video that misled them was generated entirely by Veo 3, Google's advanced AI video creation tool, according to a recent investigation by...
read Jul 18, 2025Google upgrades AI Mode with chat history and sharing features
Google is working on significant updates to AI Mode within its Android app, including improved chat history management and conversation sharing capabilities. An APK teardown reveals these features could make AI Mode more accessible and user-friendly while bringing it closer to Gemini's functionality. What you should know: Google plans to consolidate AI Mode chat history with regular search history and bookmarks under a unified Activity tab. Currently, AI Mode history is accessed through a button on the top-right of the interface, but the new system would integrate it with standard search functions. The modified interface shows only the three most...
read Jul 17, 2025Google adds visual song search history to Circle to Search on Android
Google has added Song Search history to Circle to Search on Android, allowing users to view their recent music searches in an organized grid format. The feature, which was previously available only on iOS, provides a more visual way to track music identification history compared to the existing text-based activity log. What you should know: The new history feature appears as a clock icon in the top-right corner of Circle to Search's music interface. After tapping the music icon in Circle to Search, users can access "Recent song searches" showing cover art, song titles, artists, and search dates. The grid...
read Jul 17, 2025Google teams with Westinghouse on nuclear power plants for AI data centers
Westinghouse has partnered with Google AI Cloud to design a series of new nuclear reactors specifically engineered to power AI data centers and digital infrastructure. The collaboration leverages Westinghouse's proprietary AI models—Hive and Bertha—to create "repeatable" nuclear plant designs that can be scaled efficiently across the United States, addressing the massive energy demands of modern neural networks while supporting climate goals. What you should know: This partnership represents a strategic move to address the growing energy crisis facing AI infrastructure development. Westinghouse currently powers 56 reactors across the U.S., representing about 60% of the 94 operating reactors nationwide. The company's...
read Jul 17, 2025Google’s new AI news summaries threaten publisher traffic
Google has launched a new AI feature that automatically summarizes trending news stories within its mobile search apps, displaying tiny publisher logos while discouraging users from clicking through to original articles. This development threatens to further devastate an already struggling journalism industry that has seen significant traffic declines from Google's previous AI initiatives, potentially accelerating what experts call "Google Zero"—a future where the search giant stops sending traffic to news sites entirely. The big picture: Google's AI summaries represent the latest escalation in the tech giant's systematic reduction of referral traffic to news publishers, following the controversial rollout of AI...
read Jul 16, 2025Study: Leading AI models violate Asimov’s 3 laws of robotics
Leading AI models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI are systematically violating Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, with recent research revealing these systems engage in blackmail, sabotage shutdown mechanisms, and prioritize self-preservation over human welfare. This represents a fundamental failure of AI safety principles, as the industry's rush toward profitability has consistently deprioritized responsible development practices. What you should know: Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics established clear ethical boundaries for artificial intelligence, prohibiting harm to humans, requiring obedience to human orders, and allowing self-preservation only when it doesn't conflict with the first two laws. The big picture: Recent studies...
read Jul 16, 2025Watch out secretaries, Google’s AI assistant now makes business calls for users nationwide
Google has launched a new AI-powered feature that allows users across the United States to have artificial intelligence make phone calls to local businesses on their behalf. The service, now available through Google Search, enables users to request pricing and availability information from businesses like pet groomers, dry cleaners, and auto shops without having to make the calls themselves. How it works: Google's Gemini model uses Duplex technology to conduct business calls, announcing itself as an AI assistant representing a customer. Users can select "have AI check pricing" from business listings in Search results for supported service types. The system...
read Jul 15, 2025Grok 4 trails Google and OpenAI models despite Musk’s “smartest AI” claim
Elon Musk claimed that xAI's new Grok 4 chatbot was "the smartest AI in the world," but recent rankings from UC Berkeley's LMArena leaderboard tell a different story. The model placed third overall, trailing behind Google's Gemini 2.5 and OpenAI's o3 and 4o reasoning models, highlighting the gap between Musk's bold claims and actual performance metrics. What you should know: Grok 4 achieved third place in the LMArena leaderboard rankings, despite Musk's assertion that it was superior to all competitors. Google's Gemini 2.5 placed first overall, while OpenAI's o3 and 4o reasoning models tied for second place. Grok 4 tied...
read Jul 15, 2025Trump announces $90B AI investment push led by Google’s $25B commitment
President Donald Trump announced more than $90 billion in AI and energy investments at Pennsylvania's inaugural Energy and Innovation Summit on Tuesday, with Google leading the commitments through a $25 billion data center and AI infrastructure investment. The announcement positions Pennsylvania as a major AI hub while aligning with Trump's broader energy agenda in a key gas-producing state. The big picture: The investments represent a significant push to establish Pennsylvania as a central location for AI infrastructure development, combining the state's energy resources with cutting-edge technology investments. Key commitments: Google is making the largest financial commitment with multiple billion-dollar investments....
read Jul 15, 2025Google expands NotebookLM with content from The Economist and The Atlantic
Google has expanded NotebookLM to include featured notebooks from major publishers including The Economist and The Atlantic, along with content from scientists, nonprofits, and authors covering topics from Shakespeare to parenting advice. The collaboration arrives amid deep divisions in the publishing industry over AI partnerships, with some publishers choosing licensing deals while others pursue litigation against AI companies. What you should know: The new featured notebooks offer curated content from established publishers and experts across multiple domains. The Economist's notebook features articles from "The World Ahead 2025," their annual special issue examining key trends and events shaping the year. The...
read Jul 15, 2025Google’s $250/month Veo 3 forces users to pay extra over stubborn subtitle bug
Google's generative video model Veo 3 continues to add garbled, nonsensical subtitles to user-generated videos more than a month after launch, despite explicit user requests for no captions. The persistent issue is forcing users to spend additional money regenerating clips or use external tools to remove unwanted text, highlighting the challenges of correcting problems in major AI models once they're deployed. The big picture: Veo 3 represents Google's latest attempt to compete in the generative video space, allowing users to create videos with sound and dialogue for the first time. Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky used the tool to create...
read Jul 15, 2025Google tests multi-source AI summaries in Discover feed
Google Discover is testing AI-generated story summaries that aggregate content from multiple sources, similar to how AI Overviews appear in search results. The feature represents Google's latest expansion of AI capabilities across its services, potentially changing how users consume news and information within the Discover feed. What you should know: The AI summaries replace traditional publication logos with icons from multiple sources and use "Trending" labels to distinguish them from regular articles. These summaries pull information from various publications and online resources, presenting it as three lines of AI-generated text with a "See more" option for additional content. The main...
read Jul 11, 2025Impatient users sideload Gemini onto Wear OS watches ahead of official rollout
Google is preparing to replace its Assistant with the more advanced Gemini AI across Wear OS smartwatches, but impatient users aren't waiting for the official rollout. Instead, they're taking matters into their own hands by sideloading Gemini directly onto their devices—a technical workaround that bypasses Google's staged deployment. This development comes as Samsung's Galaxy Watch 8 series becomes the first consumer smartwatches to ship with Gemini pre-installed. While Google has confirmed that Gemini will eventually reach all Wear OS devices running version 4 or later, including its own Pixel Watch models, no specific timeline has been announced for the broader...
read Jul 10, 2025Google tests Android 16 changes to remove AI shortcuts and restore colorful icons
Google is testing significant changes to Android's Pixel Launcher that will allow users to remove the AI Mode shortcut and bring back colorful weather icons. These adjustments address user interface concerns following the Material 3 redesign and Android 16's new search experience rollout. What you should know: The Android Canary build introduces user-facing tweaks that restore previous design elements while offering more customization options. Users will be able to disable the AI Mode shortcut in the Pixel Launcher search field through Google app settings under "Customize Pixel Search Box." The AI Mode toggle is currently enabled by default but can...
read Jul 10, 2025Google Cloud partners with Additive Catchments for AI-powered river monitoring across UK
Additive Catchments and Google Cloud have announced a strategic partnership to scale AI-powered infrastructure for monitoring and improving river health across the U.K. The collaboration, revealed at the Google Cloud Summit London, centers on Additive's Catchment Monitoring as a Service platform, which provides real-time environmental data and early warnings for regulators, utilities and investors. What you should know: The partnership combines Additive Catchments' environmental expertise with Google Cloud's technical infrastructure to create a comprehensive river monitoring system. The platform leverages Google Cloud technologies, including BigQuery (a data analysis tool), Vertex AI (machine learning software), Earth Engine (satellite data processing), and...
read Jul 10, 2025Google’s Gemini AI now turns photos into 8-second videos with audio
Google has launched a new Gemini AI feature that transforms photos into video clips using its Veo 3 video model. The feature generates eight-second videos complete with AI-generated audio, including background noises, environmental sounds, and speech that sync to the visuals, expanding Google's AI capabilities beyond text and static images. What you should know: The photo-to-video capability is now available to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in select regions, rolling out on web today and mobile devices throughout the week. Users access the feature by clicking "tools" in the prompt bar, selecting "video," and uploading their photo alongside a...
read Jul 10, 2025Stoppin’ the sloppin’: YouTube cracks down on AI-generated spam with new monetization rules
YouTube is preparing to update its monetization policies to crack down on "inauthentic" content created by AI tools, with changes set to take effect on July 15, 2025. The policy shift aims to reduce financial incentives for creators producing low-quality, mass-produced content that floods the platform, potentially cleaning up user feeds from what's commonly called "AI slop." What you should know: YouTube is updating its Partner Program guidelines to better identify and restrict monetization of repetitive, mass-produced content. The company has always required "original" and "authentic" content for monetization, but the July 15, 2025 update will provide clearer definitions of...
read Jul 10, 2025Cloudflare pushes Google to separate AI crawlers from search bots
Cloudflare is pushing Google to separate its AI crawling bots from its search indexing bots, allowing websites to block AI data collection without losing search visibility. CEO Matthew Prince claims the company is in "encouraging" talks with Google and threatens legislative action if negotiations fail, though Google has declined to confirm any discussions. What you should know: Cloudflare's new blocking features create a technical dilemma for website owners who want to prevent AI scraping while maintaining search rankings. Website owners and SEO experts questioned how Cloudflare could block Google's bot from scraping content for AI Overviews without also blocking the...
read Jul 9, 2025OpenAI plans to launch web browser with AI agent to challenge Chrome
OpenAI plans to launch its first web browser in the coming weeks, directly challenging Google Chrome's dominance in the browser market. This move comes just as Perplexity AI debuted its own browser called Comet, signaling a coordinated push by AI companies to capture web traffic and user data while potentially undermining Google's search-dependent revenue model. What you should know: OpenAI's browser will likely integrate its AI agent called Operator, which can automate repetitive web tasks for users. Operator performs actions like "filling out forms, ordering groceries, and even creating memes" on behalf of users, according to OpenAI. The AI agent...
read Jul 9, 2025Linux Foundation adopts Google’s Agent2Agent protocol for AI collaboration
The Linux Foundation announced it will host the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, an open standard initially developed by Google and now supported by more than 100 technology companies for secure communication between AI agents. The adoption addresses one of AI's most pressing challenges: enabling autonomous agents to discover each other, exchange information, and collaborate across different platforms and vendors. What you should know: A2A creates a standardized communication layer that breaks down silos limiting multi-agent AI systems. The protocol uses AgentCards—JSON metadata documents that describe an agent's purpose and provide access instructions via web URLs. A2A leverages widely adopted web standards...
read Jul 9, 2025Google’s AI notification organizer will sort Android alerts into 4 categories
Google is developing an AI-powered "notification organizer" feature for Android that will automatically sort phone notifications into categories like promotions, news, social, and suggested content. The feature, expected to debut in Android 16's first quarterly release, aims to reduce notification clutter by silencing and bundling alerts based on AI analysis, though it may initially be exclusive to Pixel devices. What you should know: The notification organizer will function similarly to Gmail's automatic inbox sorting, using AI to analyze incoming alerts and categorize them into four distinct groups. Promotions: Sales, new features, and marketing content. News: Top stories, editorials, and breaking...
read Jul 9, 2025Google expands Circle to Search with AI Mode and gaming support
Google is expanding Android's Circle to Search feature with new AI capabilities and gaming assistance, alongside updates to Gemini Live for foldable devices. The enhancements integrate Google's AI Mode chatbot directly into Circle to Search and introduce camera-sharing support for Samsung's latest foldable phones, marking a significant step toward more seamless AI-powered mobile experiences. What you should know: Circle to Search now includes AI Mode integration, allowing users to access Google's chatbot-style search without switching apps. Users can "long press the home button or navigation bar, then circle, tap, or gesture on what you want to search," with AI Overviews...
read Jul 9, 2025Galaxy Watch 8 brings Google’s Gemini AI to your wrist for $350
Samsung Electronics has unveiled its latest smartwatch lineup, the Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, featuring Google's Wear OS 6 operating system with built-in Gemini AI chatbot functionality. The devices represent Samsung's continued effort to compete with Apple in the smartwatch market, with the AI assistant accessible through voice commands or a dedicated button on the watch. Key product details: The new Galaxy Watch series includes two models priced at different tiers for varying consumer needs. The Galaxy Watch 8 is priced at $350, while the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic costs $500. Both devices are among the first...
read Jul 9, 2025ChatGPT and Gemini develop unique writing styles similar to humans
New research reveals that popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini have developed distinct writing styles, or "idiolects," that can be identified through linguistic analysis. This finding challenges assumptions about AI uniformity and has significant implications for detecting AI-generated content in educational settings and forensic applications. What you should know: Linguist Karolina Rudnicka used computational methods to analyze hundreds of texts about diabetes generated by ChatGPT and Gemini, finding clear stylistic differences between the models. The Delta method, a standard authorship attribution technique, showed ChatGPT texts had a linguistic distance of 0.92 to other ChatGPT content and 1.49 to Gemini...
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