Google has repositioned itself as an AI-focused company, with everything from Search and Android, to YouTube and its internal structure, shifting to accommodate for that pivot — and TechCrunch is here to cover every step of its evolution. Its Gemini model is being rolled out in more countries and across more use cases than ever, though its revenue remains tied to its existing advertising offerings.
Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes
Google says apps offering AI features will have to prevent the generation of restricted content.
Google said today it is partnering with RapidSOS, a platform for emergency first responders, to enable users to contact 911 through RCS (Rich Messaging Service).
Google’s updated AI-powered NotebookLM expands to India, UK and over 200 other countries
Google on Thursday said it is rolling out NotebookLM, its AI-powered note-taking assistant, to over 200 new countries, nearly six months after opening its access in the U.S. The platform,…
Google’s newest startup program, announced on Wednesday, aims to bring AI technology to the public sector. The newly launched “Google for Startups AI Academy: American Infrastructure” will offer participants hands-on…
Tech giants form an industry group to help develop next-gen AI chip components
Microsoft, Meta, Intel, AMD and others have formed a new group to design next-gen interconnects for AI accelerator hardware.
Instead of opening the user’s actual browser or a WebView, Custom Tabs let users remain in their app while browsing.
Fitbit’s new kid smartwatch is a little Wiimote, a little Tamagotchi
The watch features a variety of different 3D games, unlocking more play time the more kids move.
Google said today it’s adding new AI-powered features such as a writing assistant and a wallpaper creator and providing easy access to Gemini chatbot to its Chromebook Plus line of…
Google has been taking heat for some of the inaccurate, funny and downright weird answers that it’s been providing via AI Overviews in search. AI Overviews are the AI-generated search…
Google is investing nearly $350 million in Flipkart, becoming the latest high-profile name to back the Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce startup. The Android maker will also provide Flipkart with cloud offerings…
Google to build first subsea fiber-optic cable connecting Africa with Australia
Google is preparing to build what will be the first subsea fiber-optic cable connecting the continents of Africa and Australia. The news comes as the major cloud hyperscalers battle it…
Google is launching a new Android feature to drive users back into their installed apps
Google says the new SDK would help Google expand on its core mission of connecting the right audience to the right content at the right time.
Welcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review. This week had two major events from OpenAI and Google. OpenAI’s spring update event saw the reveal of its new model, GPT-4o, which…
Startups Weekly: It’s the dawning of the age of AI — plus, Musk is raging against the machine
Welcome to Startups Weekly! We’ve been drowning in AI news this week, with Google’s I/O setting the pace. And Elon Musk rages against the machine.
As part of 2024’s Accessibility Awareness Day, Google is showing off some updates to Android that should be useful to folks with mobility or vision impairments. Project Gameface allows gamers…
Google is launching a Gemini add-on for educational institutes through Google Workspace.
Here are quick hits of the biggest news from the keynote as they are announced.
Back in February, Google paused its AI-powered chatbot Gemini’s ability to generate images of people after users complained of historical inaccuracies. Told to depict “a Roman legion,” for example, Gemini would show…
Google’s going all in on AI — and it wants you to know it. During the company’s keynote at its I/O developer conference on Tuesday, Google mentioned “AI” more than…
Android’s new Theft Detection Lock helps deter smartphone snatch and grabs
When triggered, the AI-powered feature will automatically lock the device down.
Google adds live threat detection and screen-sharing protection to Android
The company said it is increasing the on-device capability of its Google Play Protect system to detect fraudulent apps trying to breach sensitive permissions.
Google’s new Private Space feature is like Incognito Mode for Android
The space is available from the launcher and can be locked as a second layer of authentication.
Google TV to launch AI-generated movie descriptions
Gemini, the company’s family of generative AI models, will enhance the smart TV operating system so it can generate descriptions for movies and TV shows.
This latest release, one of many announcements from the Google I/O 2024 developer conference, focuses on improved battery life and other performance improvements, like more efficient workout tracking.
Users will be able to access the AR content by first searching for a location in Google Maps.
Google adds ‘Web’ search filter for showing old-school text links as AI rolls out
As Google revamps itself for the AI era, offering AI overviews within its search results, the company is introducing a new way to filter for just text-based links. With the…
Google is building its Gemini Nano AI model into Chrome on the desktop
This will enable developers to use the on-device model to power their own AI features.
It ran 110 minutes, but Google managed to reference AI a whopping 121 times during Google I/O 2024 (by its own count). CEO Sundar Pichai referenced the figure to wrap…
Google launches Firebase Genkit, a new open source framework for building AI-powered apps
Firebase Genkit is an open source framework that enables developers to quickly build AI into new and existing applications.
Patreon and Grammarly are already experimenting with Gemini Nano, says Google
In the coming months, Google says it will open up the Gemini Nano model to more developers.
