Google

Previously, Google’s AI coding agent Jules was accessible on GitHub or its website. Now, developers can access it directly in their terminal using a new command line interface or in tools like Slack using the newly available Jules API. Support for Google Workspace users is coming later this month, the company says.

With this update, Gmail users with client-side encryption can send E2EE emails to people using other providers, like Outlook. The recipient will receive a notice about the encrypted message, and can view it using a guest Gmail account.

Google economic expert Andres Lerner testified that in the world that would have existed previously but for Google’s anticompetitive conduct, Google would still have monopoly power. Yet he generally agreed that remedies should unfetter the market from Google’s anticompetitive conduct. Brinkema said that seemed “inconsistent with the concept that some monopoly power can continue. There’s a tension there.”

Ten years ago, Google ’solved’ our photo backup problems with free unlimited space and some compression... until it didn’t anymore.

Navigating the digital world is tough for parents, and it’s even harder for children. Sesame Street and Google have partnered on a bunch of resources to help teach kids about digital wellbeing. And, if they hang around to watch some Sesame Street on YouTube, so be it.

Google security engineering VP Heather Adkins testified that while AI can help “autocomplete” some code that might be useful in a forced migration Google’s ad tools, vibe coding doesn’t produce secure enough code yet to make it so that a human doesn’t need to be looped into the process.

Elizabeth Douglas testified in Google’s defense that breaking up the ad tech tools her business relies on would introduce immense uncertainty in the one part of her business that feels relatively stable in terms of set up. But Google’s AI overviews, she said, are also part of the reason for WikiHow’s uncertain future, since they often keep users from clicking through to its pages.

DOJ attorney David Geiger asked Goodwin about his claim that AT&T’s breakup slowed tech progress — was he also aware it accelerated the development of the cell phone? Goodwin said no, and Brinkema interjected, “yeah, but we lost Bell Labs. That’s what people comment on.”

Former investment banker Shane Goodwin, who specialized in divestitures, gave several examples of such deals that later resulted in assets being sold back to the original firm, or didn’t achieve their goals. One example was the Sprint-T-Mobile merger that required a divestiture to Dish that was meant to result in a formidable 5G competitor.

The company continues its defense today after Brinkema declined to pause the case amid the funding gap for the DOJ.

Google’s plans to verify the identity of developers releasing apps even outside the Play Store sparked fears Android was about to get a whole lot less open. Not so, says Google, insisting in a new blog post that sideloading apps “is fundamental to Android and it is not going away.”

Brinkema says this includes the fact that the expected outcome of this trial is a court order that Google could be held in contempt of court over if it breaks, and a long list of other lawsuits it faces. Wouldn’t these things temper Google’s behavior? Goel says Google likely would comply with a court order, but the problem is that it’s nearly impossible to list all the ways Google might later figure out how to advantage itself again.

PubMatic’s Goel said he didn’t have enough information about what a divested AdX would entail or how much it would cost to know if he would buy it. It’s a stark contrast from the search trial, where AI companies and rival search firms leapt at the chance to buy Chrome.

Rajeev Goel, CEO of rival ad exchange PubMatic, testified that he spoke to Google eight months ago about an issue where its advertiser tool wouldn’t buy some publisher inventory through PubMatic’s exchange. Goel said Google told him that was due to a bug they’re working to fix. Assuming that’s true, he said, Google still stands to make more money if it deprioritizes a fix.

Google executive Nirmal Jayaram, who previously worked on Google’s advertiser tools, warned that a divestiture would likely degrade products for advertisers, and lead more of them to move from open web display ads to other formats that give them a greater return on their investments.

That’s how Google Ad Manager engineering director Glenn Berntson described the difference between a divestiture of AdX that excludes Google’s proprietary infrastructure versus one that includes it. Both are huge undertakings, he said.

Brinkema said she’s thinking about whether she needs to consider different classes of publishers, since those of various sizes have different needs. Some small publishers, for example, may make deals with local businesses for advertising, while others may use Google’s tools only for programmatic ads.

Two of the best Pixel features are hitting more countries. Google phone owners in Australia, Canada, and Ireland now get Call Screen, with a Hindi beta coming to India soon. They’re all getting Scam Detection too, as are UK users, who got Call Screen last year.

If you installed the new Google app for Windows, Google’s now telling you to remove it! To “keep receiving Google app updates,” you have to uninstall and reinstall from scratch. I wonder how many will skip the second step... particularly since it won’t uninstall until you dismiss this message and close the app.

Google executives say the products the DOJ seeks to pull apart are global in nature, and span and types outside of this case. Google product management director George Levittw testified that the DOJ’s request would be “the most complicated and risky project that I have seen in my time at Google.”

The company’s attorneys have so far called up three different executives who are making the case that a break up would be far more complex than the government portrayed.

Equativ CEO Arnaud Creput testified the French order “had no impact at all” on publisher ad server competition. That was partially because the three year remedies period was too short for publishers to execute a complex move. The DOJ wants a ten year monitoring period.

Brinkema denied in part Google’s motion to exclude testimony from French ad tech provider Equativ about their experiences with a French regulator’s orders to encourage more competition. She said she is interested in “whether Google would comply” with a court order only focused on behavioral changes.

The DOJ continues its case-in-chief today, where we expect to hear the rest of the testimony from technical migration expert Goranka Bjedov, as well as testimony from another Google ad tech rival.

Bjedov was flummoxed by a question from Google’s Jeannie Rhee about whether a buyer of AdX could make the product worse. Even after working with “clowns” in the past, Bjedov finds this scenario hard to imagine.