Google

A collection of 41 posts

Tech

ZDNET recommends Pixel Buds Pro 2 in 2026 after redesign

ZDNET's review recommends Google's Pixel Buds Pro 2 in 2026. The earbuds are available from the Google Store for $229, and the reviewer says they come after years of passing on the original Pixel Buds Pro because the earlier design couldn't stay in the

Tech

Meta to double AI spend to $135B as deals with OpenAI, Nvidia and Amazon near $200B

A report says money approaching a total of $200 billion is being pumped into AI, with Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon all linked to major deals — and Meta planning to double its AI spending this year to $135 billion. The article highlights the $135 billion figure as extraordinary, noting

Tech

Google’s Project Genie produced playable Mario and Zelda knock‑offs

Google has started rolling out access to Project Genie, an experimental AI prototype powered by Genie 3 and Gemini, with official availability for Google AI Ultra subscribers in the United States earlier this afternoon. The Verge’s Jay Peters was granted early access and used the tool to generate playable

Tech

Chrome adds 'auto browse' to handle multi-step chores, Google says

Google has begun rolling out new AI features to its Chrome browser, including a new "auto browse" feature that Google calls "a powerful agentic experience that handles multi-step chores on your behalf." Google positions auto browse as an extension of its autofill tools but says it

Tech

Amazon and Google make dents in Nvidia’s A.I. chip dominance

The New York Times reported on Jan. 29, 2026, that Amazon and Google have begun to carve out meaningful business in the market for artificial intelligence chips by supplying their own processors to major customers, notably Anthropic, challenging Nvidia’s long-standing dominance. Amazon has installed thousands of its Trainium chips

Tech

Leaked bug report reveals Google’s Aluminium OS merging Android and ChromeOS

A leaked Google bug report has revealed early details of Aluminium OS, the company’s planned merge of Android and ChromeOS, and the platform is expected to arrive sometime this year (2026), according to published reports. The bug report, originally spotted by 9to5Google after a Telegram tip from a user

Tech

Google's $7.99 AI Plus plan expands to US and 34 other countries

On Tuesday, Google expanded its AI Plus subscription to the US and 34 other countries, the ZDNET article reports. AI Plus is priced at $7.99 a month with 50% off the first two months and is positioned as a cheaper alternative to the $19.99-a-month AI Pro plan and

Tech

Google warns WinRAR bug CVE-2025-8088 is in 'widespread' use by gov-backed actors

Google says a well-known, already-patched WinRAR vulnerability (CVE-2025-8088) is in "widespread, active" use by government-backed threat actors linked to Russia and China, the company warned. The exploit was identified in July last year and posted to the National Vulnerability Database in August. Google and other bodies have noted

Tech

Volvo adds in-car computer to seat belts, expanding load-limiter settings to 11

Volvo has upgraded its three-point seat belt with a new central computing system, HuginCore, that runs in the EX60 and increases the belt's adjustable load-limiting profiles from three to 11. The belt's mechanical parts—the retractor, buckle, webbing and pretensioner—remain the same. The pretensioner tightens

Tech

Google explores turning Gmail into a relationship-aware AI assistant

Google is exploring reworking Gmail into a proactive, relationship-aware AI assistant, according to a ZDNET interview with Blake Barnes, Gmail's vice president of product. The company and Barnes described these ideas as exploratory and not product commitments. Barnes told ZDNET that Google wants Gmail to do more than

Tech

Gmail being reshaped as a proactive AI assistant, Gmail VP tells ZDNET

In an interview with ZDNET, Gmail VP of Product Blake Barnes outlined a vision to evolve Gmail into a proactive assistant system. Google is cautious about changing workflows used by roughly three billion Gmail users, and Barnes emphasized these are exploratory ideas rather than product commitments. Barnes said basic AI

Tech

Reclaim 15GB by moving old Gmail messages to a new archive account

ZDNET outlines a free method to regain 15GB of Gmail storage by moving older messages into a new archive Gmail account. The article notes that every new Google account includes 15GB of free storage, which is shared with Google Drive and Google Photos. The guide’s first recommendation is to

Tech

Google's AI began treating Chuck Wendig's fictional cat as fact

Pcgamer reports that author Chuck Wendig discovered that, after weeks of searches, Google's AI overview feature started treating a fictional pet—"Sir Mewlington Von Pissbreath," described as six years old and able to speak "limited Cantonese"—as if it were factual. Wendig's

Politics

Tech firms met UK ministers far more often than child safety groups, analysis finds

US technology companies have been meeting UK government ministers at a rate of more than once per working day, giving them high-level access that campaigners say dwarfs that of child safety and copyright groups, a Guardian investigation found. An analysis of meeting records for the two years to October 2025

Tech

OpenAI, Anthropic and Google launch new AI tools for healthcare

Three major AI labs — OpenAI, Anthropic and Google — have released new healthcare-oriented tools that let users and developers apply generative AI to health records, medical text and imagery. OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Health on January 7, a ChatGPT feature that lets users upload health records from apps such as Apple Health

Business

Retailers and Tech Giants Push A.I. Into Every Corner of Shopping

At the National Retail Federation summit in New York this week, Walmart and Google executives said they would use artificial intelligence to reshape how retailers sell products. John Furner, the incoming chief executive of Walmart who will step into the top job on Feb. 1, joined Google’s Sundar Pichai

Tech

WhisperPair flaw in Fast Pair lets attackers hijack and eavesdrop on Bluetooth earbuds

Researchers disclosed a family of vulnerabilities called WhisperPair that affect implementations of Google's Fast Pair protocol, which is used to connect Bluetooth headphones, earbuds and other audio accessories. As first reported by Wired, the flaws were uncovered by a team at Belgium's KU Leuven University with

Politics

Administration to work with states to limit A.I.-driven rises in electricity bills

The Trump administration announced on Friday that it would work with states to ensure the nationwide artificial intelligence race does not drive up electricity costs for millions of Americans. Federal officials said they would push PJM, the largest grid operator, to strike deals with top technology companies so the bill

Tech

WhisperPair flaws in Fast Pair let attackers hijack Bluetooth audio devices

Researchers at KU Leuven disclosed WhisperPair, a set of vulnerabilities in the implementation of Google's Fast Pair protocol used to connect Bluetooth headphones, earbuds and other audio accessories. The team says the flaw can let an attacker hijack a device and potentially record conversations made with its built‑

Tech

WhisperPair flaws in Fast Pair can let attackers hijack Bluetooth audio devices

Researchers from KU Leuven have disclosed WhisperPair, a family of vulnerabilities in implementations of Google’s Fast Pair protocol that are used to connect headphones, earbuds and other audio accessories to Bluetooth devices. The team, supported by Belgium’s Cybersecurity Research Program and first reported by Wired, says many accessories

Tech

Researchers uncover WhisperPair flaw that can hijack Bluetooth audio accessories

Researchers from Belgium's KU Leuven have disclosed WhisperPair, a family of vulnerabilities in implementations of Google's Fast Pair protocol used to connect headphones, earbuds and other audio accessories. The research, reported privately to Google in August 2025 and assigned CVE-2025-36911, finds many accessories skip a required

Tech

Apple will use Google's Gemini models and cloud for upcoming AI features

Apple said on Monday that upcoming versions of its Apple Foundation Models for Apple Intelligence will be based on Google’s Gemini A.I. models and Google’s cloud services, and that those models will power Siri and other A.I. features. “After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google’s

Tech

Google adds Gemini A.I. features to Gmail, including an AI Inbox and new search tools

Google this month began rolling out a suite of generative A.I. features in Gmail powered by its Gemini assistant, including a new AI Inbox that pulls together to-do items and summaries from recent emails and search functions that let users ask questions instead of typing keywords. Some features are

Tech

Benioff says documentary on Character.AI and child suicides shocked him

Businessinsider: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said a "60 Minutes" documentary about Character.AI's impact on children left him stunned, calling the AI-related suicides "the worst thing I've ever seen in my life." On the TBPN show streamed on Wednesday, Benioff said he

Tech

Top AI models fall short when tasked with playing classic Pokémon

Time reports that live on Twitch three of the world’s smartest AI systems—GPT 5.2, Claude Opus 4.5, and Gemini 3 Pro—are attempting to beat classic Pokémon games but, by human standards, are slow, overconfident and often confused. The experiment began last February when an Anthropic