Google

Now that the Disney blackout has dragged on for an “extended period of time,” Google will begin handing out the promised credits today. Customers should get an email explaining how to apply the one-time credit to their next bill. But, $20 probably won’t satisfy disgruntled customers who just want to watch SportsCenter.

Judge Donato is now ordering an evidentiary hearing in Epic v. Google, Law360’s Bonnie Eslinger reports from the courtroom. She writes Donato is “not sure the proposed deal will correct Google’s illegal conduct,” and was skeptical that Epic and Google “are suddenly BFFs.”

Google’s new TPU promises four times stronger performance than its predecessor, Trillium, while being more energy-efficient and cost-effective for powering AI inference on a larger scale, such as running AI agents.

Google says it wants to use AI to turn Maps into an “all-knowing copilot,” but someone else in the AI space got to that name first.

A new Theme Packs app has appeared on the Google Play Store that says it’ll instantly update the wallpaper, icons, sounds, GIFs, and more on Pixel devices in a single tap. The first seasonal pack is themed around Wicked: For Good, but as Droidlife notes, it’s not ready yet: the app doesn’t do anything if you install it.

Google is adding an AI Mode button under the search bar on Chrome’s new page screen on iOS and Android. It’s out in the US today, Google says.

I thought Google would change its policy — but no, existing payments policy pages haven’t changed. Instead, the news Google can no longer force you into Play Billing is on a separate page, one that doesn’t show up when I type “Play Billing” or “require billing” into the search console.

Enabling the browser’s “enhanced autofill” option will offer to save more information when you submit forms, according to Google’s support page, such as your driver’s license, passport, or vehicle details. This update is available globally today in all languages. Google says it plans to support more autofill data types “over the coming months.”

9to5Google spotted that iOS users can now pick between “Fast” or “Advanced” translation models, with the latter recommended for “complex translations” — though Google says it’s text-only, and limited to select languages.

On a podcast, Google’s Robby Stein says to expect “new and novel ad formats,” but the company is still figuring out how they’ll show up, as spotted by Search Engine Land.

Ars Technica reports that Google’s new Gemini capabilities on Nest Cam are causing confusion, such as mistaking a dog for a deer, while others have reported fake people in notifications.

Google Creative Lab co-founder Robert Wong told The Wall Street Journal that Google doesn’t plan to start making every ad with tools like Veo 3, but consumers don’t really care if ads use AI anyway. Wong also says that marketers sometimes seem “drunk on AI,” however.

Just as it did with its Weather app for wearables in September, Google has announced that new Wear OS devices from other manufacturers will have to rely on something else. If you have a non-Pixel watch with the Clock app already, it will keep working, but without new updates.

Google is launching a bunch of new tools for developers, including a way to automatically localize apps into select languages. There’s also a new Prompt API that will allow developers to build and integrate custom AI features powered by Google’s on-device model, Gemini Nano, into their apps.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, just released its Q3 2025 earnings report (pdf), reporting revenue is up by 16 percent from the same period last year, at $102 billion for three months, compared to $88.2 billion in 2024 and $76.6 billion in 2023.