Google has repositioned itself as an AI-focused company, with everything from Search and Android, to YouTube and its internal structure, shifting to accommodate for that pivot — and TechCrunch is here to cover every step of its evolution. Its Gemini model is being rolled out in more countries and across more use cases than ever, though its revenue remains tied to its existing advertising offerings.
As Google described during the I/O session, the new on-device surface would organize what’s most relevant to users, inviting them to jump back into their apps.
Google’s trying to make waves with Gemini, its flagship suite of generative AI models, apps and services. So what’s Google Gemini, exactly? How can you use it? And how does…
Here are the hottest product announcements from Apple, Google, Microsoft and others so far in 2024
We’ve poked through the many product announcements made by the biggest tech companies and product trade shows of the year, so far, and compiled them into this list.
YouTube is adding several new features for Premium users, including smart downloads and support for picture-in-picture mode for Shorts, as well as a wider rollout of its “Jump Ahead” feature…
Google said today that it is adding support for 110 languages to its translation service. The company has used its PaLM 2 AI model to power translations.
Facing new competition from startups like Arc, Google announced on Wednesday that it’s bringing five new features to the Chrome browser on mobile devices, each designed to enhance the search…
Google is rolling out a new Gemini AI side panel in Gmail that can help you write emails and summarize email threads. The company is also adding the Gemini side…
Google is bringing Gemini access to teens using their school accounts
Google announced on Monday that it’s bringing its AI technology Gemini to teen students using their school accounts, after having already offered Gemini to teens using their personal accounts. The company…
Google pauses its experiment to expand real-money games on the Play Store
Google said today that it globally paused its experiment that aimed to allow new kinds of real-money games on the Play Store, citing the challenges that come with the lack…
Google is making your movie and TV reviews visible under a new profile page
Google is making reviews of all your movies, TV shows, books, albums and games visible under one profile page starting June 24, according to an email sent to users last…
Meta AI removes block on election-related queries in India while Google still applies limits
Meta AI removes restrictions around answering election-related queries in India while Google is still restricting them.
Let’s face it — ads on YouTube can be a nuisance. Whether you’re in the middle of a tutorial or catching up on your favorite…
Google brings Gemini mobile app to India with support for 9 Indian languages
Google has released its dedicated AI mobile app Gemini in India — over four months after its debut in the U.S. — with support for nine Indian languages alongside English. The…
Perplexity now displays results for temperature, currency conversion and simple math, so you don’t have to use Google
Perplexity could already fetch this data from the web and display results in a descriptive way, but the company is adding some visual flair to these results to make them…
Android is losing one of its long-time engineering leads. Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Android, said on Thursday that he is stepping down from the role after 14 years.…
TikTok comes for Google as it quietly rolls out image search capabilities in TikTok Shop
After leading the social media landscape, TikTok appears to be interested in challenging Google’s dominance in search. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s testing the ability for users to…
Google’s June Pixel feature drop brings Gemini Nano AI model to Pixel 8 and 8a users
Google is finally making its Gemini Nano AI model available to Pixel 8 and 8a users after teasing it in March.
“We’re looking forward to doing integrations with other models, including Google Gemini, for instance, in the future,” Federighi said during WWDC 2024.
Google Play cracks down on AI apps after circulation of apps for making deepfake nudes
Google says apps offering AI features will have to prevent the generation of restricted content.
Google said today it is partnering with RapidSOS, a platform for emergency first responders, to enable users to contact 911 through RCS (Rich Messaging Service).
Google’s updated AI-powered NotebookLM expands to India, UK and over 200 other countries
Google on Thursday said it is rolling out NotebookLM, its AI-powered note-taking assistant, to over 200 new countries, nearly six months after opening its access in the U.S. The platform,…
TechCrunch Minute: How YouTube leaks became so common — and what it means for Google
Sometimes, leaked corporate documents detail the darkest realities of Silicon Valley. Other times, they tell us that there’s a Yoshi game coming out. After years…
Google’s new startup program focuses on bringing AI to public infrastructure
Google’s newest startup program, announced on Wednesday, aims to bring AI technology to the public sector. The newly launched “Google for Startups AI Academy: American Infrastructure” will offer participants hands-on…
Tech giants form an industry group to help develop next-gen AI chip components
Microsoft, Meta, Intel, AMD and others have formed a new group to design next-gen interconnects for AI accelerator hardware.
Instead of opening the user’s actual browser or a WebView, Custom Tabs let users remain in their app while browsing.
Fitbit’s new kid smartwatch is a little Wiimote, a little Tamagotchi
The watch features a variety of different 3D games, unlocking more play time the more kids move.
Google said today it’s adding new AI-powered features such as a writing assistant and a wallpaper creator and providing easy access to Gemini chatbot to its Chromebook Plus line of…
Google has been taking heat for some of the inaccurate, funny and downright weird answers that it’s been providing via AI Overviews in search. AI Overviews are the AI-generated search…
Google is investing nearly $350 million in Flipkart, becoming the latest high-profile name to back the Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce startup. The Android maker will also provide Flipkart with cloud offerings…
Google to build first subsea fiber-optic cable connecting Africa with Australia
Google is preparing to build what will be the first subsea fiber-optic cable connecting the continents of Africa and Australia. The news comes as the major cloud hyperscalers battle it…
