The name Google is synonymous with online searches, but over the years the company has grown beyond search and now builds multiple consumer products, including software like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Android, and hardware like the Pixel smartphones, Google Home, and Chromebooks. Its name can also be found on internet services such as Google Fi, Flights, Checkout, and Google Fiber. Here is all of the latest news about one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
With split view, you’ll be able to put two Chrome tabs right next to each other in one window. It’s already been available for some, but now it’s rolling out for everyone. Seems handy.
Gemini 3.1 Pro is rolling out starting today in the Gemini app and NotebookLM. According to Google:
3.1 Pro is designed for tasks where a simple answer isn’t enough, taking advanced reasoning and making it useful for your hardest challenges. This improved intelligence can help in practical applications — whether you’re looking for a clear, visual explanation of a complex topic, a way to synthesize data into a single view, or bringing a creative project to life.
It’s a minimal update. Google didn’t bring many Pixel 10 features down to the Pixel 10A this year. Buy the berry color.
A partial YouTube outage knocked out access to Google’s video service on Tuesday night.
The outage appears to have started just before 8PM ET, but at least on the homepage, it appears to be resolved now. A note on YouTube’s support page says it went down due to problems with the recommendations system. “The issue with our recommendations system has been resolved and all of our platforms (YouTube.com, the YouTube app, YouTube Music, Kids, and TV) are back to normal!
Update: The service is back online.
The former host of Morning Edition and current host of Left, Right & Center claims that Google illegally replicated his voice for its male podcast host in NotebookLM. Google denies this, but Greene (and many of his friends and colleagues) say the resemblance is “uncanny.” As the Washington Post reports:
To Greene, the resemblance of the AI voice to his own is uncanny — and the harm is deeper and more personal than just a missed chance to capitalize on his most recognizable asset.
“My voice is, like, the most important part of who I am,” Greene said.
What’s causing the issues or how widespread they are is unclear. We’ve been unable to reproduce the issue here, but DownDetector has seen a spike in reports over the past few hours. Users report that Gemini displays error messages or hangs after a prompt. We’ve reached out to Google for comment.
Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta have received “hundreds” of subpoenas from the DHS in recent months, according to a report from The New York Times. The agency is reportedly asking the platforms for the names, email addresses, phone numbers, and other information associated with accounts that “track or criticize” ICE.
[The New York Times]
Gemini-powered Audio Summaries give you a condensed overview of lengthy documents instead of reading the entire thing. The feature is starting to roll out to select business and Google AI users now, and can be found in the Tools menu in Google Docs.
You’ve been able to add them via desktop for decades, and even iPhone users had the option, but finally Android is catching up. You still can’t customize the colors from your phone, but maybe we’ll get that in another ten years or so.
Across the industry, workers describe a ‘fear-based culture’ and pressure to ‘fall in line.‘
As Waymo uses AI-generated 3D worlds to simulate driverless cars’ encounters with tornadoes, floods, and even elephants, one commenter wonders if they could try AI school buses next.
cowboyfromspace:
They got elephants down but forgot about school buses?
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The “New Home” commercial features nostalgic piano music and a heartfelt voiceover of a mother and son envisioning their new house with some help from Gemini. Notably, it steers clear of fact-focused prompts like the Gouda cheese stat Gemini got wrong in one of last year’s Super Bowl ads.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, that is, re: the Nvidia Shield TV, likely the most supported Android gadget ever at over a decade. Nvidia’s Andrew Bell tells Ars Technica a new model isn’t in active development, but hints at what he’d add (like AV1 and YouTube HDR). He says Nvidia doesn’t profit off its Netflix button, BTW.
The latest batch of documents released by the DOJ reveals that Brin had corresponded with Maxwell as early as 2003, and was invited to dinner at Epstein’s townhouse that year. The files also contain testimony that places Brin and his then fiancée, Anne Wojcicki, at the private island in 2007. It’s not a great look for one of the authors of “Don’t Be Evil.”
