Google AI Search tool, SGE, could be detrimental to news publishers; Know all about it

 A new crop of artificial intelligence startups has shaken up Silicon Valley — and the wider business world — throughout this year, but there's one thing that hasn't changed: Big Tech still wields power. In the wake of Microsoft Corp.'s $10 billion investment in OpenAI in January, other tech giants raced to partner with leading AI startups through funding and cloud computing deals. Salesforce Inc. led a round in Hugging Face at a $4.5 billion valuation. Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. invested billions in OpenAI rival Anthropic. And Nvidia Corp. seemed to back almost every AI startup of note. 

Google has agreed to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations it tracked the data of users who thought they were browsing the internet privately. The object of the lawsuit was the "incognito" mode on Google's Chrome browser that the plaintiffs said gave users a false sense that what they were surfing online was not being tracked by the Silicon Valley tech firm. But internal Google emails brought forward in the lawsuit demonstrated that users using incognito mode were being followed by the search and advertising behemoth for measuring web traffic and selling ads.

 A study has found that people who performed online searches to verify the truthfulness of a piece of possible misinformation actually ended up believing it due to "poor quality results" from search engines.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google considered changing its app store pricing model to circumvent a regulatory crackdown, but abandoned a proposal to charge a set fee per app after it became clear that could cost the company billions of dollars, according to documents released late Thursday.

Today, December 22, the artificial intelligence (AI) space is asking us deep, philosophical questions, as new developments point towards its innovative use cases and its internal nature. A talkative robot called ElliQ, created by Intuition Robotics, is helping senior citizens in the US combat loneliness by offering them companionship. AI for companionship is a hotly explored space, and it is something even Elon Musk has talked about. In other news, a coalition of scientists is raising serious questions about the AI consciousness. They say the answers to these questions will shed light on the ethical usage of the technology as well as help us guide AI safety measures.

Alphabet Inc.'s agreement to pay $700 million to consumers and states and open the Google Play Store to competition will leave intact the heavily-criticized commissions the technology giant charges mobile app developers.

Google has agreed to pay $700 million in an antitrust settlement with US state attorney generals.

Alphabet's Google said on Tuesday it will restrict the types of election-related queries its chatbot Bard and search generative experience can return responses for, in the run up to 2024 U.S. Presidential election.

As the year comes to a close, Google has rolled out several new features to Google Maps in India. This move aims to enhance the overall user experience of the app as well as set the base for the next year and beyond. One of the standout features of this expansive update is the Lens integration which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to make searching things easier. It is the latest in line with a slew of AI features rolled out onto the platform lately. Rumours have also hinted that the tech giant might be planning to roll out an AI chatbot in Maps, but more about that later. Check out all the new AI-powered features rolled out in Google Maps such as Lens in Maps, Live View walking navigation, and more.

With Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger injured within minutes of Friday’s Ottawa Senators game, Scott Wedgewood stepped up into the crease. Not only did Wedgewood stop 25 of 27 goals to help the Stars win 5-4 over the Senators, but he debuted a special new Mario Kart goalie mask.

If you're a podcast lover and use Google Podcasts to enjoy the latest episodes of your favorite shows, then there is bad news for you. Google has announced that its app will soon be discontinued, and after mid-2024, you will not even be able to migrate your shows and episodes to another app. So, if you do not want to start over with a different app and manually add all your shows and episodes, then this is the time for you to be proactive and move your RSS feed to a different platform. The good thing here is that Google is allowing you to easily migrate to YouTube Music, in case you prefer that app. So, check out how to migrate Google Podcasts data to YouTube Music or a third-party app.

It wasn't long ago that Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney had to announce a significant reduction in the company's workforce, firing 16% of the employees (around 830 in total). The news caught everyone by surprise, as the company's pockets had been filled by loads of revenue generated by Fortnite as well as the increasingly successful Unreal Engine licensing program.