Google spared from ad-business breakup, but judge orders changes to how it operates
Google has dodged an effort to break up its ad business, but a judge said Wednesday that the company will need to adjust its business to benefit competitors.
Google says its new Gemini 3.8 Flash model ‘works harder’ but might cost more
Google launched Gemini 3.8 Flash, arriving just a few weeks after its predecessor. The company claims the new model “works harder” than Gemini 3.7 Flash by performing more reasoning steps on complex tasks and “calling tools iteratively.” It has the same introductory pricing as 3.7 Flash, $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million […]
Enhanced geothermal notches another win as Google buys 400 MW from Fervo
Fervo’s deal with Google could expand to 1 gigawatt of geothermal power, enough to supply a very large AI data center in Utah.
Google is sending MrBeast into the wilderness, armed with AI
MrBeast will feature Gemini, Google Health, and the Fitbit Air in upcoming videos as part of a multi-year partnership with Google. The deal will kick off with a video featuring Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson turning to Gemini for wilderness survival advice: First up on September 5 is a new MrBeast video following Jimmy and his crew […]
Google dodges another breakup attempt
US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema declined the Justice Department’s request to make Google sell off parts of its ad tech business, accepting milder remedies to restore competition to markets it illegally monopolized for years. Brinkema said she would adopt most of the behavioral changes proposed by the parties, with some modifications. But those won’t […]
Tado’s new thermostat is designed as a Nest killer
When Google ignominiously exited the European thermostat market last year, it pointed its customers to Tado. This week, the German-based smart home company is launching its Smart Thermostat X (2nd gen), and aiming to attract European Nest users who haven’t already jumped ship. Google shutting down the servers for its 1st- and 2nd-gen thermostats drove […]
Google needs Hollywood more than the studios need AI
Google has reportedly been reaching out to a number of Hollywood’s biggest studios, hoping to strike licensing agreements that would allow it to train its AI models on copyrighted material in exchange for massive piles of cash. In theory, these deals would be a win-win: a huge financial boon to the studios that would also […]
Google’s Android update tackles motion sickness, accessibility, and more
While some of the features see Google playing catch-up to Apple, which already offers similar features for iPhone users, others specifically leverage Gemini to provide various improvements.
Google Find Hub will soon help you locate things without a tracker
Google announced new features coming to Android devices as part of this month’s feature drop update. Among the highlights are the introduction of Motion Assist – Android’s version of Apple’s Motion Cues feature, which tries to reduce motion sickness by overlaying dots on your screen that move in response to a vehicle’s movements – as […]
