Big Tech’s $1.1 Trillion Cloud Computing Backlog
An anonymous reader shares a report: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft each reported hundreds of billions in RPO (remaining performance obligations) – signed contracts for cloud computing services that can’t yet be filled and haven’t yet hit the books. Collectively, the big three cloud providers reported a $1.1 trillion backlog of revenue.
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@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org I don’t know a number (wait, why can’t I google a Wetterbericht but only a Wettervorhersage?!), but it was enough for public transportation to shut down. 😅 I think I saw around five trucks on the side of the road who couldn’t continue, too icy. Some cars stranded.
My car has an automatic gearbox and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad in such conditions. 😂 Pretty hard to accelerate without spinning wheels …
Google Plots Big Expansion in India as US Restricts Visas
Alphabet is plotting to dramatically expand its presence in India [non-paywalled source], with the possibility of taking millions of square feet in new office space in Bangalore, India’s tech hub. From a report: Google’s parent company has leased one office tower and purchased options on two others in Alembic City, a development in the Whitefield tech corrido … ⌘ Read more
What Go Programmers Think of AI
“Most Go developers are now using AI-powered development tools when seeking information (e.g., learning how to use a module) or toiling (e.g., writing repetitive blocks of similar code).” That’s one of the conclusions Google’s Go team drew from September’s big survey of 5,379 Go developers.
But the survey also found that among Go developers using AI-powered tools, “their satisfaction with these tools is m … ⌘ Read more
Videogame Stocks Slide On Google’s AI Model That Turns Prompts Into Playable Worlds
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Shares of videogame companies fell sharply in afternoon trading on Friday after Alphabet’s Google rolled out its artificial intelligence model capable of creating interactive digital worlds with simple prompts. Shares of “Grand Theft Auto” maker Take-Two Intera … ⌘ Read more
Apple ‘Runs on Anthropic,’ Says Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman
Apple “runs on Anthropic at this point” and that the AI company is powering much of what Apple does internally for product development and internal tools, according to Mark Gurman, the most influential reporter on the Apple beat.
Apple had initially pursued an AI deal with Anthropic before the Google partnership came together, but negotiations fell apart over pricin … ⌘ Read more
Former Google Engineer Found Guilty of Stealing AI Secrets For Chinese Firms
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from CBS News: A former Google engineer has been found guilty on multiple federal charges for stealing the tech giant’s trade secrets on artificial intelligence to benefit Chinese companies he secretly worked for, federal prosecutors said. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Offi … ⌘ Read more
Google’s Project Genie Lets You Generate Your Own Interactive Worlds
Google is letting outsiders experiment with DeepMind’s Genie 3 “world model” via Project Genie, a tool for generating short, interactive AI worlds. The caveat: it requires a $250/month AI Ultra subscription, is U.S.-only, and has tight limits that make it more of a tech demo than a game engine. Engadget reports: At launch, Project Genie o … ⌘ Read more
Apple’s Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever Is a Startup That Interprets Silent Speech
Apple has acquired Q.AI, a secretive Israeli startup whose technology can analyze facial skin micro-movements to interpret “silent speech,” in a deal valued at close to $2 billion that marks the iPhone maker’s second-largest acquisition ever, according to backer GV (formerly Google Ventures).
The four-year-old … ⌘ Read more
Massive AI Chat App Leaked Millions of Users Private Conversations
An anonymous reader shares a report: Chat & Ask AI, one of the most popular AI apps on the Google Play and Apple App stores that claims more than 50 million users, left hundreds of millions of those users’ private messages with the app’s chatbot exposed, according to an independent security researcher and emails viewed by 404 Media. The expose … ⌘ Read more
Software Company Bonds Drop As Investors’ AI Worries Mount
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Investors are souring on the bonds of software companies that service industries ranging from automotive to finance as fast-paced artificial intelligence innovations threaten to upend their business models. […] Bond prices tumbled as advances in artificial intelligence rack up. Google announced plans to … ⌘ Read more
Google Says AI Agent Can Now Browse on Users’ Behalf
Google is rolling out an “auto browse” AI agent in Chrome that can navigate websites, fill out forms, compare prices, and handle tedious online tasks on a user’s behalf. Bloomberg reports: The feature, called auto browse, will allow users to ask an assistant powered by Gemini to complete tasks such as shopping for them without leaving Chrome, said Charmaine D’Silva, a di … ⌘ Read more
Android’s Full Desktop Mode Surfaces in Accidental Chromium Leak
A bug report filed on the Chromium Issue Tracker inadvertently exposed Google’s desktop Android interface for the first time, revealing a system codenamed “Aluminum OS” running on existing Chromebook hardware. The report, ostensibly about Chrome Incognito tabs, included screen captures from an HP Elite Dragonfly 13.5 Chromebook running Android 16.
The … ⌘ Read more
Android Phones Are Getting More Anti-Theft Features
An anonymous reader shares a report: Google on Tuesday announced an expanded set of Android theft-protection features, designed to make its mobile devices less of a target for criminals. Building on existing tools like Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock, and others introduced in 2024, the newly launched updates include stronger authentication safeguards and enhanced … ⌘ Read more
Google Axion CPU Performance With The New Google Cloud N4A Instances
Back in 2024 Google rolled out their Axion in-house ARM processors with the Google Cloud C4A instance type. Today they are expanding their Axion offerings in Google Cloud with the N4A instances now out of preview. The Google Cloud N4A instances are designed for scale-out web servers and microservices, containerized applications, back-end application services, databases, data analytics, and cost-effective development/staging/testing environments. ⌘ Read more
Updated Linux Patches For Managing Out-Of-Memory Behavior Via BPF
Being worked on since last year by Google engineer Roman Gushchin was the latest attempt for the Linux kernel to support managing the out-of-memory “OOM” behavior using BPF programs. It’s been a while since there has been anything new to report on that front but published overnight is the latest iteration of those patches… ⌘ Read more
Microsoft’s Latest AI Chip Claims Performance Edge Over Amazon and Google
An anonymous reader quotes a report from GeekWire: Microsoft on Monday announced Maia 200, the second generation of its custom AI chip, claiming it’s the most powerful first-party silicon from any major cloud provider. The company says Maia 200 delivers three times the performance of Amazon’s latest Trainium chip on certain b … ⌘ Read more
Gemini In Google Calendar Now Helps You Find the Best Meeting Time For All Attendees
Google is adding Gemini-powered “Suggested times” to Google Calendar, automatically scanning attendees’ calendars to surface the best meeting slots based on availability, work hours, and conflicts. The feature also streamlines rescheduling with one-click alternatives when invitees decline. Digital Trends re … ⌘ Read more
Google Settles $68 Million Lawsuit Claiming It Recorded Private Conversations
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly listened to people’s private conversations through their phones. […] the lawsuit claimed Google Assistant would sometimes turn on by mistake – the phone thinking someone had said its activati … ⌘ Read more
DOT Plans To Use Google Gemini AI To Write Regulations
The Trump administration is planning to use AI to write federal transportation regulations, ProPublica reported on Monday, citing the U.S. Department of Transportation records and interviews with six agency staffers. From the report: The plan was presented to DOT staff last month at a demonstration of AI’s “potential to revolutionize the way we draft rulemakings,” a … ⌘ Read more
Is Google Prioritizing YouTube and X Over News Publishers on Discover?
Earlier this month, the media site Press Gazette reported that now Google “is increasingly prioritising AI summaries, X posts and Youtube videos” on its “Discover” feed (which appears on the leftmost homescreen page of many Android phones and the Google app’s homepage).
“The changes could be devastating for publishers who rely heavily … ⌘ Read more
Google Discover Replaces News Headlines With Sometimes Inaccurate AI-Generated Alternatives
An anonymous reader shared this report from The Verge:
In early December, I brought you the news that Google has begun replacing Verge headlines, and those of our competitors, with AI clickbait nonsense in its content feed [which appears on the leftmost homescreen page of many Android phones … ⌘ Read more
Google’s ‘AI Overviews’ Cite YouTube For Health Queries More Than Any Medical Sites, Study Suggests
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Guardian:
Google’s search feature AI Overviews cites YouTube more than any medical website when answering queries about health conditions, according to research that raises fresh questions about a tool seen by 2 billion people each m … ⌘ Read more
AI Luminaries Clash At Davos Over How Close Human-Level Intelligence Really Is
An anonymous reader shared this report from Fortune
The large language models (LLMs) that have captivated the world are not a path to human-level intelligence, two AI experts asserted in separate remarks at Davos. Demis Hassabis, the Nobel Prize-winning CEO of Google DeepMind, and the executive who leads the development of … ⌘ Read more
GNOME’s AI Assistant Newelle Adds Llama.cpp Support, Command Execution Tool
Newlle as a virtual AI assistant for the GNOME desktop with API integration for Google Gemini, OpenAI, Groq, and also local LLMs is out with a new release. Newelle has been steadily expanding its AI integration and capabilities and with the new Newelle 1.2 are yet more capabilities for those wanting AI on the GNOME desktop… ⌘ Read more
PowerShell Architect Retires After Decades At the Prompt
Jeffrey Snover, the driving force behind PowerShell, has retired after a career that reshaped Windows administration. The Register reports: Snover’s retirement comes after a brief sojourn at Google as a Distinguished Engineer, following a lengthy stint at Microsoft, during which he pulled the company back from imposing a graphical user interface (GUI) on adminis … ⌘ Read more
Epic and Google Have a Secret $800 Million Unreal Engine and Services Deal
A federal judge revealed a previously undisclosed ~$800 million, six-year partnership between Epic Games and Google tied to Unreal Engine services and joint marketing. It raises questions about whether the deal influenced Epic’s willingness to settle its antitrust case over Android. The Verge reports: [California District Judge … ⌘ Read more
Google Begins Offering Free SAT Practice Tests Powered By Gemini
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: It’s no secret that students worldwide use AI chatbots to do their homework and avoid learning things. On the flip side, students can also use AI as a tool to beef up their knowledge and plan for the future with flashcards or study guides. Google hopes its latest Gemini feature will help with … ⌘ Read more
Google Temporarily Disabled YouTube’s Advanced Captions Without Warning
Google has temporarily disabled YouTube’s advanced SRV3 caption format after discovering the feature was causing playback errors for some users, according to a statement the company posted. SRV3, also known as YouTube Timed Text, is a custom subtitle system Google introduced around 2018 that allows creators to use custom colors, tran … ⌘ Read more
Developer Rescues Stadia Bluetooth Tool That Google Killed
This week, Google finally shut down the official Stadia Bluetooth conversion tool… but there’s no need to panic! Developer Christopher Klay preserved a copy on his personal GitHub and is hosting a fully working version of the tool on a dedicated website to make it even easier to find. The Verge’s Sean Hollister reports: I haven’t tried Klay’s mirror, as bo … ⌘ Read more
Crypto News Outlet Cointelegraph Loses 80% of Traffic After Google Penalty For Parasitic Blackhat SEO Deal
Cointelegraph, once one of the most-visited cryptocurrency news sites, has seen its monthly traffic plummet from roughly 8 million visits to 1.4 million – an 80% drop in three months – after Google issued a manual penalty in October 2025 for the outlet’s partnersh … ⌘ Read more
Europe Must Invest in Open Source AI or Cede To China, Schmidt Says
An anonymous reader shares a report: Europe must invest in its own open source artificial intelligence labs and address soaring energy prices, or it will quickly find itself dependent on Chinese models, former Google chief executive and tech investor Eric Schmidt said.
“In the US, the companies are largely moving to closed source, which means th … ⌘ Read more
Retailers Rush to Implement AI-Assisted Shopping and Orders
This week Google “unveiled a set of tools for retailers that helps them roll out AI agents,” reports the Wall Street Journal,
The new retail AI agents, which help shoppers find their desired items, provide customer support and let people order food at restaurants, are part of what Alphabet-owned Google calls Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience. Major reta … ⌘ Read more
Predator Spyware Turns Failed Attacks Into Intelligence For Future Exploits
In December 2024 the Google Threat Intelligence Group published research on the code of the commercial spyware “Predator”. But there’s now been new research by Jamf (the company behind a mobile device management solution) showing Predator is more dangerous and sophisticated than we realized, according to SecurityWeek.
Long-ti … ⌘ Read more
To Pressure Security Professionals, Mandiant Releases Database That Cracks Weak NTLM Passwords in 12 Hours
Ars Technica reports:
Security firm Mandiant [part of Google Cloud] has released a database that allows any administrative password protected by Microsoft’s NTLM.v1 hash algorithm to be hacked in an attempt to nudge users who continue using the deprecated function … ⌘ Read more
Ads Are Coming To ChatGPT in the Coming Weeks
OpenAI said Friday that it will begin testing ads on ChatGPT in the coming weeks, as the $500 billion startup seeks new revenue streams to fund its continued expansion and compete against rivals Google and Anthropic. The company had previously resisted embedding ads into its chatbot, citing concerns that doing so could undermine the trustworthiness and objectivity of responses.
The ads w … ⌘ Read more
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/me clones the repository, calls gemini-cli, and asks for an executive summary. Gemini-CLI replies "Don't bother!" LOL.
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@bender@twtxt.net gemini-cli, something something https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/16723
Code.org: Use AI In an Interview Without Our OK and You’re Dead To Us
theodp writes: Code.org, the nonprofit backed by AI giants Microsoft, Google and Amazon and whose Hour of AI and free AI curriculum aim to make world’s K-12 schoolchildren AI literate, points job seekers to its AI Use Policy in Hiring, which promises dire consequences for those who use AI during interviews or take home assignments without … ⌘ Read more
JPEG-XL Image Support Returns To Latest Chrome/Chromium Code
After widespread backlash over its 2022 decision to remove JPEG-XL support, Google has quietly restored the image format in the latest Chrome/Chromium codebase. Phoronix reports: Back in December they merged jxl-rs as a pure Rust-based JPEG-XL image decoder from the official libjxl organization. At the end of December they did more JPEG-XL plumbing with the en … ⌘ Read more
JPEG-XL Image Support Returns To Latest Chrome / Chromium Code
To the frustration of many developers and end-users, back in 2022 Google deprecated JPEG-XL support in Chrome/Chromium and proceeded to remove the support. That decision was widely slammed and ultimately Google said they may end up reconsidering it. In November there was renewed activity and interest in restoring JPEG-XL within Google’s image web browser and as of yesterday the code was merged… ⌘ Read more
Even Linus Torvalds Is Vibe Coding Now
Linus Torvalds has started experimenting with vibe coding, using Google’s Antigravity AI to generate parts of a small hobby project called AudioNoise. “In doing so, he has become the highest-profile programmer yet to adopt this rapidly spreading, and often mocked, AI-driven programming,” writes ZDNet’s Steven Vaughan-Nichols. Fro the report: [I]t’s a trivial program called AudioNoise – a recen … ⌘ Read more
Apple Partners With Google on Siri Upgrade, Declares Gemini ‘Most Capable Foundation’
Apple has struck a multi-year partnership with Google to power a more capable version of Siri using Gemini AI models, ending months of speculation about which company would help the iPhone maker catch up in the generative AI race. In a statement, Apple said it had determined after “careful evaluation” that “ … ⌘ Read more
Walmart Announces Drone Delivery, Integration with Google’s AI Chatbot Gemini
Alphabet-owned Wing “is expanding its drone delivery service to an additional 150 Walmart stores across the U.S.,” reports Axios:
[T]he future is already here if you live in Dallas — where some Walmart customers order delivery by Wing three times a week. By the end of 2026, some 40 million Americans, or about 12 percent … ⌘ Read more
More US States Are Preparing Age-Verification Laws for App Stores
Yes, a federal judge blocked an attempt by Texas at an app store age-verification law.
But this year Silicon Valley giants including Google and Apple “are expected to fight hard against similar legislation,” reports Politico, “because of the vast legal liability it imposes on app stores and developers.”
In Texas, Utah and Louisiana, parent advo … ⌘ Read more
Linux 7.0 Readying Improvement For Rust + LTO Kernel Builds
Alice Ryhl of Google has been working on an improvement to the Linux kernel code for inlining C helpers into Rust when making use of a Link-Time Optimized (LTO) kernel build. At least some of the patches are queued up for merging in the upcoming Linux 6.20~7.0 cycle for helping those enabling the Rust kernel support and also making use of the LLVM/Clang compiler’s LTO capabilities for greater performance… ⌘ Read more
Google: Don’t Make ‘Bite-Sized’ Content For LLMs If You Care About Search Rank
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a big business. While some SEO practices are useful, much of the day-to-day SEO wisdom you see online amounts to superstition. An increasingly popular approach geared toward LLMs called “content chunking” may fall into that catego … ⌘ Read more