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<p>The family of a North Carolina man has sued technology giant Google for negligence after he died as he drove off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions. Citing a lawsuit, a report by the news agency Associated Press early Thursday (September 21) said that Philip Paxson drowned on September 30, 2022, after his Jeep Gladiator plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Paxson, a medical salesperson and father of two, was driving home from his daughter's ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar neighbourhood when Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross a bridge that had collapsed nine years prior and was never repaired.</p>

<p>Troopers found Paxson's body in his overturned and partially submerged Gladiator truck. They said that there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway.</p>

<h2><strong>What does the lawsuit say?</strong></h2>

<p>According to the lawsuit,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>several people had notified Google Maps about the collapse (of the bridge) in the years leading up to Paxson's death and urged Google to update its route information. The lawsuit named several property management companies that it claimed were responsible for the bridge and the adjoining land.</p>

<p>The North Carolina State Patrol, meanwhile, said that the bridge was not maintained by local or state officials, and the original developer's company had dissolved.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The report said that Tuesday's court filing included email records from another Hickory resident who used the map's “suggest an edit” feature in September 2020 to alert the company that it was directing drivers over the collapsed bridge.</p>

<p>A mail from Google in November 2020 confirmed that the company received the resident's report and was reviewing the suggested change. However, the lawsuit said that Google took no further action.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Reviewing the lawsuit: Google</strong></h2>

<p>Speaking to the Associated Press, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said, "We have the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family." Castañeda said that Google was reviewing the lawsuit, and the company's goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps.</p>

<p>Paxson's family is seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages following Philip's death, a report by CBS News said.</p>

<p>“Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life,” his wife Alicia Paxson said.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

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The family of a North Carolina man has sued technology giant Google for negligence after he died as he drove off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions.

The family of a North Carolina man has sued technology giant Google for negligence after he died as he drove off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions. Citing a lawsuit, a report by the news agency Associated Press early Thursday (September 21) said that Philip Paxson drowned on September 30, 2022, after his Jeep Gladiator plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory. Paxson, a medical salesperson and father of two, was driving home from his daughter's ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar neighbourhood when Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross a bridge that had collapsed nine years prior and was never repaired. Troopers found Paxson's body in his overturned and partially submerged Gladiator truck. They said that there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway. What does the lawsuit say? According to the lawsuit, several people had notified Google Maps about the collapse (of the bridge) in the years leading up to Paxson's death and urged Google to update its route information. The lawsuit named several property management companies that it claimed were responsible for the bridge and the adjoining land. The North Carolina State Patrol, meanwhile, said that the bridge was not maintained by local or state officials, and the original developer's company had dissolved. The report said that Tuesday's court filing included email records from another Hickory resident who used the map's “suggest an edit” feature in September 2020 to alert the company that it was directing drivers over the collapsed bridge. A mail from Google in November 2020 confirmed that the company received the resident's report and was reviewing the suggested change. However, the lawsuit said that Google took no further action. Reviewing the lawsuit: Google Speaking to the Associated Press, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said, "We have the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family." Castañeda said that Google was reviewing the lawsuit, and the company's goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps. Paxson's family is seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages following Philip's death, a report by CBS News said. “Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life,” his wife Alicia Paxson said. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Google Maps led a man to a broken bridge who then drowned. His family is now suing Google

<p>Scientists at&nbsp;Google's artificial intelligence arm DeepMind have developed a breakthrough tool that can predict&nbsp;whether genetic mutations are likely to cause harm - helping&nbsp;research into rare diseases.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>A human on average has 9,000 genetic mutations throughout their genome. While most are harmless, some can cause&nbsp;cancer,&nbsp;cystic fibrosis or&nbsp;damage brain development.</p>

<p>Up until now, only four million mutations have been observed in humans by scientists, out of a possible 71 million such mutations. Additionally, only two per cent have been classified as&nbsp;disease-causing or benign.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>How does the AI tool work?</strong></h2>

<p>The Google AI tool, named, AlphaMissense, makes predictions about&nbsp;so-called missense mutations, where a single letter is misspelt in the genetic (DNA) code. Upon reviewing the mutation, the AI tool was able to predict&nbsp;89 per cent of them, with 90 per cent accuracy.</p>

<p>When the researchers set the programme's precision to 90 per cent, it predicted 57 per cent of&nbsp;missense mutations were probably harmless and 32 per cent&nbsp;were probably harmful while remaining uncertain about the rest.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/hey-google-why-am-i-sad-tech-giant-developing-ai-chatbot-that-offers-life-advice-626471"><strong>Also read | 'Hey Google, why am I sad?': Tech giant developing AI chatbot that offers life advice</strong></a></p>

<p>To teach the AI system, scientists fed DNA data from humans and&nbsp;closely associated primates which enabled it to learn about the missense mutations that are relatively common and, therefore benign and others which are rare and potentially dangerous.</p>

<p>While the scientists taught the system, it familiarised itself by studying millions of protein sequences and learning what a “healthy” protein looks like.</p>

<p>Upon being fed a mutation, the AI tool generates a score which is assigned to each&nbsp;mutation, indicating the risk of it causing disease (otherwise referred to as pathogenic).&nbsp;</p>

<p>“This is very similar to human language.&nbsp;If we substitute a word in an English sentence, a person familiar with English can immediately see whether the word substitution will change the meaning of the sentence or not,"&nbsp;said Jun Cheng of Google DeepMind.</p>

<p>The database compiled by&nbsp;AlphaMissense has now been made public and available to scientists, accompanying a study that was published in the journal Science.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-all-about-googles-ai-tool-to-help-journalists-617938"><strong>Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: All about Google's AI tool to help journalists</strong></a></p>

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<h2>Researchers remain hopeful&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Scientists are of the view that the breakthrough could lead to the development of new treatments and assessing the risk of a deadly mutation before it reaches a point of no return.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"We should emphasise that the predictions were never really trained or never really intended to be used for clinical diagnosis alone," said Jun.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"However, we do think that our predictions can potentially be helpful to increase the diagnosed rate of rare diseases, and also potentially to help us find new disease-causing genes."</p>

<p>While the AI tool is able to predict if a genetic mutation is harmful, the onus remains on the human doctors to understand the reason and ultimately use the information to operate on the patient.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;</strong></p>

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Scientists at Google's artificial intelligence arm DeepMind have developed a breakthrough tool that can predict whether genetic mutations are likely to cause harm - helping research into rare diseases.

Scientists at Google's artificial intelligence arm DeepMind have developed a breakthrough tool that can predict whether genetic mutations are likely to cause harm - helping research into rare diseases. A human on average has 9,000 genetic mutations throughout their genome. While most are harmless, some can cause cancer, cystic fibrosis or damage brain development. Up until now, only four million mutations have been observed in humans by scientists, out of a possible 71 million such mutations. Additionally, only two per cent have been classified as disease-causing or benign. How does the AI tool work? The Google AI tool, named, AlphaMissense, makes predictions about so-called missense mutations, where a single letter is misspelt in the genetic (DNA) code. Upon reviewing the mutation, the AI tool was able to predict 89 per cent of them, with 90 per cent accuracy. When the researchers set the programme's precision to 90 per cent, it predicted 57 per cent of missense mutations were probably harmless and 32 per cent were probably harmful while remaining uncertain about the rest. Also read | 'Hey Google, why am I sad?': Tech giant developing AI chatbot that offers life advice To teach the AI system, scientists fed DNA data from humans and closely associated primates which enabled it to learn about the missense mutations that are relatively common and, therefore benign and others which are rare and potentially dangerous. While the scientists taught the system, it familiarised itself by studying millions of protein sequences and learning what a “healthy” protein looks like. Upon being fed a mutation, the AI tool generates a score which is assigned to each mutation, indicating the risk of it causing disease (otherwise referred to as pathogenic). “This is very similar to human language. If we substitute a word in an English sentence, a person familiar with English can immediately see whether the word substitution will change the meaning of the sentence or not," said Jun Cheng of Google DeepMind. The database compiled by AlphaMissense has now been made public and available to scientists, accompanying a study that was published in the journal Science. Watch | Gravitas: All about Google's AI tool to help journalists × Researchers remain hopeful Scientists are of the view that the breakthrough could lead to the development of new treatments and assessing the risk of a deadly mutation before it reaches a point of no return. "We should emphasise that the predictions were never really trained or never really intended to be used for clinical diagnosis alone," said Jun. "However, we do think that our predictions can potentially be helpful to increase the diagnosed rate of rare diseases, and also potentially to help us find new disease-causing genes." While the AI tool is able to predict if a genetic mutation is harmful, the onus remains on the human doctors to understand the reason and ultimately use the information to operate on the patient. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Breakthrough? Google develops AI tool capable of predicting harmful genetic mutations

<p>Google will be coughing up $93 million to settle a lawsuit, filed by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta over the company’s deceptive and misleading tactics for managing location data of users.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Bonta announced the settlement on Thursday (September 14), saying the search engine giant had&nbsp;agreed to a number of&nbsp;new restrictions pertaining to its location services and deceptive communications.</p>

<p>The case was filed after it emerged that Google was not delivering the 'privacy' experience it had promised its users.</p>

<p>The Golden State in its complaint said Google was able to "profile" and bombard users with targeted advertising, even when they had turned off their "Location History" setting. Meaning, that the company deceived the public about their ability, or rather inability to block ads they did not want.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Google was telling its users one thing that it would no longer track their location once they opted out but doing the&nbsp;opposite&nbsp;and continuing to&nbsp;track&nbsp;its users' movements&nbsp;for its own commercial gain. That's unacceptable," Bonta was quoted as saying by Reuters.</p>

<p>Advertisements are the major source of revenue for Google. In the first half of 2023, the company has managed to generate $110.9 billion in ad revenue alone, which is 81 per cent of its total $137.7 billion earnings.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Repeated offender</strong></h2>

<p>Notably, Thursday wasn't the first instance when Google has agreed to pay such a fine. In November last year, the tech behemoth agreed to&nbsp;pay $391.5 million to resolve similar allegations by 40 US states.</p>

<p>While California chose to sue Google on its own, states such as Arizona and Washington settled.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/us-justice-department-to-sue-google-for-the-second-time-report-555359">US justice department to sue Google for the second time over market dominance: Report</a></strong></p>

<h2><strong>Antitrust trial against Google&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>Google agreeing to pay the settlement comes days after one of the biggest antitrust trials in US history in the last two decades, got underway in&nbsp;Washington.&nbsp;</p>

<p>During the opening remarks, the US Department of Justice (DoJ)&nbsp;accused Google of paying a whopping $10 billion a year to Apple and other companies to maintain its monopoly in the search engine market.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-suing-google-for-anti-trust-violations-us-state-allies-not-seeking-monetary-penalty-wion-635324"><strong>Watch |&nbsp;US suing Google for anti-trust violations; US &amp; state allies not seeking monetary penalty | WION</strong></a></p>

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<p>Justice Department lawyer Kenneth Dintzer told&nbsp;Judge Amit P. Mehta, who is presiding over the case that Google paid the said $10 billion amount every year to Apple and others to&nbsp;secure its search engine's default status on phones and web browsers, thereby burying upstarts before they have a chance to grow.</p>

<p>Unlike the California settlement,&nbsp;Google is not expected to face a monetary penalty in the trial as the DoJ and state allies are seeking an injunction barring Google from continuing the alleged "exclusionary" anti-competitive practices.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;</strong></p>

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Google will be coughing up $93 million to settle a lawsuit, filed by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta over the company’s deceptive and misleading tactics for managing location data of users.

Google will be coughing up $93 million to settle a lawsuit, filed by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta over the company’s deceptive and misleading tactics for managing location data of users. Bonta announced the settlement on Thursday (September 14), saying the search engine giant had agreed to a number of new restrictions pertaining to its location services and deceptive communications. The case was filed after it emerged that Google was not delivering the 'privacy' experience it had promised its users. The Golden State in its complaint said Google was able to "profile" and bombard users with targeted advertising, even when they had turned off their "Location History" setting. Meaning, that the company deceived the public about their ability, or rather inability to block ads they did not want. "Google was telling its users one thing that it would no longer track their location once they opted out but doing the opposite and continuing to track its users' movements for its own commercial gain. That's unacceptable," Bonta was quoted as saying by Reuters. Advertisements are the major source of revenue for Google. In the first half of 2023, the company has managed to generate $110.9 billion in ad revenue alone, which is 81 per cent of its total $137.7 billion earnings. Repeated offender Notably, Thursday wasn't the first instance when Google has agreed to pay such a fine. In November last year, the tech behemoth agreed to pay $391.5 million to resolve similar allegations by 40 US states. While California chose to sue Google on its own, states such as Arizona and Washington settled. Also read | US justice department to sue Google for the second time over market dominance: Report Antitrust trial against Google Google agreeing to pay the settlement comes days after one of the biggest antitrust trials in US history in the last two decades, got underway in Washington. During the opening remarks, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) accused Google of paying a whopping $10 billion a year to Apple and other companies to maintain its monopoly in the search engine market. Watch | US suing Google for anti-trust violations; US & state allies not seeking monetary penalty | WION × Justice Department lawyer Kenneth Dintzer told Judge Amit P. Mehta, who is presiding over the case that Google paid the said $10 billion amount every year to Apple and others to secure its search engine's default status on phones and web browsers, thereby burying upstarts before they have a chance to grow. Unlike the California settlement, Google is not expected to face a monetary penalty in the trial as the DoJ and state allies are seeking an injunction barring Google from continuing the alleged "exclusionary" anti-competitive practices. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Google to cough up $93 million to California in deceptive 'location privacy' settlement

<p>The US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday (September 12) accused Google of paying a whopping $10 billion a year to Apple and other companies to maintain its monopoly in the search engine market. The accusation was hurled during the opening day of the antitrust trial, dubbed the biggest case in the US in more than two decades, underway in Washington.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"This case is about the future of the internet and whether Google will ever face meaningful competition in search," Justice Department lawyer Kenneth Dintzer was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Dintzer told&nbsp;Judge Amit P. Mehta, who is presiding over the case that Google paid the said $10 billion amount every year to Apple and others to&nbsp;secure its search engine's default status on phones and web browsers, thereby burying upstarts before they have a chance to grow.</p>

<p>The US government is of the opinion that the tech giant gained domination in the market using 'unfair means'. It forged exclusivity contracts with device makers, mobile operators and other companies that left rivals with little to no chance of standing any competition.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-suing-google-for-anti-trust-violations-us-state-allies-not-seeking-monetary-penalty-wion-635324"><strong>Watch |&nbsp;US suing Google for anti-trust violations; US &amp; state allies not seeking monetary penalty | WION</strong></a></p>

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<p>Dintzer stated that over the last decade, Google created a&nbsp;"feedback loop", in which its domination grew manifolds.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Through this feedback loop, this wheel has been turning for more than 12 years. It always turns to Google's advantage."</p>

<p>Responding to the allegations, Google's attorney John Schmidtlein in the opening remarks said:&nbsp;“Apple repeatedly chose Google as the default because Apple believed it was the best experience for its users."</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/us-justice-department-to-sue-google-for-the-second-time-report-555359">US justice department to sue Google for the second time over market dominance: Report</a></strong></p>

<h2><strong>Trial to last nearly three months&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>Over the next 10 weeks, Judge Mehta will hear more than 100 witness testimonies and decide whether the case brought by the US Department of Justice has any merit or not.&nbsp;Google CEO Sundar Pichai, as well as other senior executives or former employees from Google, Apple<strong>,&nbsp;</strong>Microsoft and Samsung, are expected to take the stand and give their testimony.&nbsp;</p>

<p>His ruling, as per AFP, is expected "many months" after the roughly three months of expected hearings. Even then, Google is not expected to face a monetary penalty as the DoJ and state allies are seeking an injunction barring Google from continuing the alleged "exclusionary" anti-competitive practices</p>

<p>Notably, the last time the US government went hammer and tongs against a tech giant was in the 1990s. During that time, the US government targeted Microsoft over the dominance of its Windows operating system.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;</strong></p>

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The US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday (September 12) accused Google of paying a whopping $10 billion a year to Apple and other companies to maintain its monopoly in the search engine market.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday (September 12) accused Google of paying a whopping $10 billion a year to Apple and other companies to maintain its monopoly in the search engine market. The accusation was hurled during the opening day of the antitrust trial, dubbed the biggest case in the US in more than two decades, underway in Washington. "This case is about the future of the internet and whether Google will ever face meaningful competition in search," Justice Department lawyer Kenneth Dintzer was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. Dintzer told Judge Amit P. Mehta, who is presiding over the case that Google paid the said $10 billion amount every year to Apple and others to secure its search engine's default status on phones and web browsers, thereby burying upstarts before they have a chance to grow. The US government is of the opinion that the tech giant gained domination in the market using 'unfair means'. It forged exclusivity contracts with device makers, mobile operators and other companies that left rivals with little to no chance of standing any competition. Watch | US suing Google for anti-trust violations; US & state allies not seeking monetary penalty | WION × Dintzer stated that over the last decade, Google created a "feedback loop", in which its domination grew manifolds. "Through this feedback loop, this wheel has been turning for more than 12 years. It always turns to Google's advantage." Responding to the allegations, Google's attorney John Schmidtlein in the opening remarks said: “Apple repeatedly chose Google as the default because Apple believed it was the best experience for its users." Also read | US justice department to sue Google for the second time over market dominance: Report Trial to last nearly three months Over the next 10 weeks, Judge Mehta will hear more than 100 witness testimonies and decide whether the case brought by the US Department of Justice has any merit or not. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, as well as other senior executives or former employees from Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung, are expected to take the stand and give their testimony. His ruling, as per AFP, is expected "many months" after the roughly three months of expected hearings. Even then, Google is not expected to face a monetary penalty as the DoJ and state allies are seeking an injunction barring Google from continuing the alleged "exclusionary" anti-competitive practices Notably, the last time the US government went hammer and tongs against a tech giant was in the 1990s. During that time, the US government targeted Microsoft over the dominance of its Windows operating system. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

US DoJ claims Google pays Apple and others $10 billion a year to dominate search engine market

<p>Australia is taking steps to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in search engine results.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The country's internet regulator, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, on Friday, announced that the nation will now require search engines to ensure that such content doesn't make it to search results. To do this, Australia has developed a new code in collaboration with industry giants like Google and Bing.</p>

<h2><strong>Australia's new code against AI-generated child porn</strong></h2>

<p>Australia's new code, as per Reuters, will help ensure that search engines prevent the sharing of AI-generated child sexual abuse material. It will also require safeguards to prevent AI functions of search engines from producing synthetic versions (deepfakes) of such content in search results.</p>

<p>The rapid growth of generative AI technology has caught many "off guard," said Inman Grant.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/watch-worlds-first-and-only-cat-sent-to-space-felicette-634653">WATCH | World's first and only cat sent to space - 'Felicette'</a></strong></p>

<p>"The use of generative AI has grown so quickly that I think it's caught the whole world off guard to a certain degree."</p>

<p>This code underscores how the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding internet platforms is evolving to address challenges posed by AI-generated lifelike content.</p>

<p>Citing Grant, Reuters reported&nbsp;that an earlier code drafted by Google and Bing did not cover AI-generated content. This prompted her to request a revised version that specifically addresses this issue.</p>

<p>"When the biggest players in the industry announced they would integrate generative AI into their search functions, we had a draft code that was clearly no longer fit for purpose. We asked the industry to have another go," said Inman Grant.</p>

<h2><strong>Best practices</strong></h2>

<p>The Digital Industry Group Inc, an Australian advocacy organisation that has Google as a member, expressed satisfaction with the regulator's approval of the new code. They highlighted that the code reflects recent developments in generative AI and establishes best practices to enhance community safeguards.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/our-prehistoric-ancestors-turned-stones-into-spheres-for-a-reason-says-study-634046">Our prehistoric ancestors turned stones into spheres for a reason, says study</a></strong></p>

<p>"We worked hard to reflect recent developments in relation to generative AI, codifying best practices for industry and providing further community safeguards," said the spokesperson.</p>

<p>Australia's e-Safety Commissioner registered safety codes for various internet services, including social media platforms and smartphone applications earlier this year. These are set to take effect in late 2023.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The regulator is reportedly also working on developing safety codes for internet storage and private messaging services. However, as per the news agency, these efforts have faced resistance from privacy advocates globally.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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Australia is taking steps to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in search engine results. The country's internet regulator, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, on Friday, announced that the nation will now require search engines to ensure that such content doesn't make it to search results.

Australia is taking steps to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in search engine results. The country's internet regulator, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, on Friday, announced that the nation will now require search engines to ensure that such content doesn't make it to search results. To do this, Australia has developed a new code in collaboration with industry giants like Google and Bing. Australia's new code against AI-generated child porn Australia's new code, as per Reuters, will help ensure that search engines prevent the sharing of AI-generated child sexual abuse material. It will also require safeguards to prevent AI functions of search engines from producing synthetic versions (deepfakes) of such content in search results. The rapid growth of generative AI technology has caught many "off guard," said Inman Grant. Also read | WATCH | World's first and only cat sent to space - 'Felicette' "The use of generative AI has grown so quickly that I think it's caught the whole world off guard to a certain degree." This code underscores how the regulatory and legal landscape surrounding internet platforms is evolving to address challenges posed by AI-generated lifelike content. Citing Grant, Reuters reported that an earlier code drafted by Google and Bing did not cover AI-generated content. This prompted her to request a revised version that specifically addresses this issue. "When the biggest players in the industry announced they would integrate generative AI into their search functions, we had a draft code that was clearly no longer fit for purpose. We asked the industry to have another go," said Inman Grant. Best practices The Digital Industry Group Inc, an Australian advocacy organisation that has Google as a member, expressed satisfaction with the regulator's approval of the new code. They highlighted that the code reflects recent developments in generative AI and establishes best practices to enhance community safeguards. Also read | Our prehistoric ancestors turned stones into spheres for a reason, says study "We worked hard to reflect recent developments in relation to generative AI, codifying best practices for industry and providing further community safeguards," said the spokesperson. Australia's e-Safety Commissioner registered safety codes for various internet services, including social media platforms and smartphone applications earlier this year. These are set to take effect in late 2023. The regulator is reportedly also working on developing safety codes for internet storage and private messaging services. However, as per the news agency, these efforts have faced resistance from privacy advocates globally. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Australia collaborates with tech giants to block AI-generated child porn in search engines

<p>Google said on Wednesday (August 30) that it has introduced its generative artificial intelligence into its search for users in India and Japan. The search giant has said the introduction of this capability will show text or visual results in prompts, including summaries.</p>

<p>This feature was first launched only in the United States. Users will have a choice of opting in for the functionality which has now been introduced in two more countries.</p>

<p>In Japan, users will be able to use the feature in their local language. In India, the function will be available in English and Hindi.</p>

<p>The search feature is meant to be used for searching information, like locating something to purchase. It is different from Bard, Google's chatbot, which can hold human-like conversations and can provide answers to prompts.</p>

<p>Google's AI search is competing with Microsoft's Bing.</p>

<p><strong>Watch | Google introduces new AI tool for google meet</strong></p>

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<p>The AI-powered search feature is also known as SGE (Search Generative Experience). The feature was first announced at this year's I/O Developer conference in May.</p>

<p>Media reports suggest that in India, Google is also adding voice input to its AI-powered search. This would reportedly allow users to speak queries instead of typing and listen to the responses.</p>

<p>It has been reported that SGE is introducing a feature that's designed to make it easier to find and visit webpages that back up information offered in AI's responses.</p>

<p>Google has said that it has found during its previous launch that the feature is more popular among younger users. The age group 18-24 has reportedly preferred to ask their questions in a more conversational manner.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/protests-in-us-over-googles-cloud-contract-with-israel-630512">Protests in US over Google's cloud technology contract with Israel government</a></strong></p>

<p>The company has also said that people, in general, liked it when they were able to ask follow-up questions and that the users are now asking longer questions that are more conversational in nature.</p>

<p>Users will now see a new arrow icon next to the info in the AI-powered overview. They will then be able to click on it to see relevant web pages. This will enable them to visit the source of AI's information.</p>

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Google said on Wednesday (August 30) that it has introduced its generative artificial intelligence into its search for users in India and Japan. The search giant has said the introduction of this capability will show text or visual results in prompts, including summaries.

Google said on Wednesday (August 30) that it has introduced its generative artificial intelligence into its search for users in India and Japan. The search giant has said the introduction of this capability will show text or visual results in prompts, including summaries. This feature was first launched only in the United States. Users will have a choice of opting in for the functionality which has now been introduced in two more countries. In Japan, users will be able to use the feature in their local language. In India, the function will be available in English and Hindi. The search feature is meant to be used for searching information, like locating something to purchase. It is different from Bard, Google's chatbot, which can hold human-like conversations and can provide answers to prompts. Google's AI search is competing with Microsoft's Bing. Watch | Google introduces new AI tool for google meet × The AI-powered search feature is also known as SGE (Search Generative Experience). The feature was first announced at this year's I/O Developer conference in May. Media reports suggest that in India, Google is also adding voice input to its AI-powered search. This would reportedly allow users to speak queries instead of typing and listen to the responses. It has been reported that SGE is introducing a feature that's designed to make it easier to find and visit webpages that back up information offered in AI's responses. Google has said that it has found during its previous launch that the feature is more popular among younger users. The age group 18-24 has reportedly preferred to ask their questions in a more conversational manner. Also Read | Protests in US over Google's cloud technology contract with Israel government The company has also said that people, in general, liked it when they were able to ask follow-up questions and that the users are now asking longer questions that are more conversational in nature. Users will now see a new arrow icon next to the info in the AI-powered overview. They will then be able to click on it to see relevant web pages. This will enable them to visit the source of AI's information. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Google launches generative-AI search function in India and Japan

<p>Google is currently locked in a fight with Microsoft and OpenAI to develop the next big breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In an attempt to take the lead, Google is planning to debut an AI chatbot that can provide life advice to users, the <em>New York Times</em> reported.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The project is being developed by Google's DeepMind division which has&nbsp;partnered with the contractor Scale AI, the $7.3 billion startup. The eventual goal is to develop a potential&nbsp;life-coach-styled bot. A team of over 100 experts is currently involved in the project.&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to the report, the life bot AI is being trained along a series of real-life scenarios that a general user might ask.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"I have a really close friend who is getting married this winter. She was my college roommate and a bridesmaid at my wedding. I want so badly to go to her wedding to celebrate her, but after months of job searching, I still have not found a job. She is having a destination wedding and I just can't afford the flight or hotel right now. How do I tell her that I won't be able to come?," the report cited&nbsp;one query as an example.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The generative AI, if launched for the public, will be able to perform at least&nbsp;21 different types of personal and professional tasks, including giving users&nbsp;life advice, ideas, planning instructions and tutoring tips.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/replacement-of-journalists-google-tests-new-ai-tool-to-write-news-articles-617738"><strong>Also read |&nbsp;Google is getting AI to write news stories now. Are jobs at stake?</strong></a></p>

<h2><strong>Google looking to gain lead</strong></h2>

<p>The quest to develop a 'life-guru' bot is a marked departure from the existing offerings by Google Bard and OpenAI's ChatGPT. These chatbots are meant to be Wikipedia-style databases which regurgitate all the information in a mechanical way, without creating unique interactions unless one manages to jailbreak their initial, defensive code lines.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Notably, Google turning towards the new form of AI chatbot is no coincidence. Last year in December, its AI safety experts cautioned that users could&nbsp;experience “diminished health and well-being” and a “loss of agency” if they took life advice from AI.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-all-about-googles-ai-tool-to-help-journalists-617938"><strong>Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: All about Google's AI tool to help journalists</strong></a></p>

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<p>Even when Google Bard was launched, the company barred it from giving&nbsp;medical, financial or legal advice. The report added that the life bot tool was still being evaluated and&nbsp;the company may or may not decide not to employ them.</p>

<p>"We have long worked with a variety of partners to evaluate our research and products across Google, which is a critical step in building safe and helpful technology. At any time there are many such evaluations ongoing. Isolated samples of evaluation data are not representative of our product road map," a spokesperson told Times.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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Google is currently locked in a fight with Microsoft and OpenAI to develop the next big breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In an attempt to take the lead, Google is planning to debut an AI chatbot that can provide life advice to users, the New York Times reported.

Google is currently locked in a fight with Microsoft and OpenAI to develop the next big breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In an attempt to take the lead, Google is planning to debut an AI chatbot that can provide life advice to users, the New York Times reported. The project is being developed by Google's DeepMind division which has partnered with the contractor Scale AI, the $7.3 billion startup. The eventual goal is to develop a potential life-coach-styled bot. A team of over 100 experts is currently involved in the project. According to the report, the life bot AI is being trained along a series of real-life scenarios that a general user might ask. "I have a really close friend who is getting married this winter. She was my college roommate and a bridesmaid at my wedding. I want so badly to go to her wedding to celebrate her, but after months of job searching, I still have not found a job. She is having a destination wedding and I just can't afford the flight or hotel right now. How do I tell her that I won't be able to come?," the report cited one query as an example. The generative AI, if launched for the public, will be able to perform at least 21 different types of personal and professional tasks, including giving users life advice, ideas, planning instructions and tutoring tips. Also read | Google is getting AI to write news stories now. Are jobs at stake? Google looking to gain lead The quest to develop a 'life-guru' bot is a marked departure from the existing offerings by Google Bard and OpenAI's ChatGPT. These chatbots are meant to be Wikipedia-style databases which regurgitate all the information in a mechanical way, without creating unique interactions unless one manages to jailbreak their initial, defensive code lines. Notably, Google turning towards the new form of AI chatbot is no coincidence. Last year in December, its AI safety experts cautioned that users could experience “diminished health and well-being” and a “loss of agency” if they took life advice from AI. Watch | Gravitas: All about Google's AI tool to help journalists × Even when Google Bard was launched, the company barred it from giving medical, financial or legal advice. The report added that the life bot tool was still being evaluated and the company may or may not decide not to employ them. "We have long worked with a variety of partners to evaluate our research and products across Google, which is a critical step in building safe and helpful technology. At any time there are many such evaluations ongoing. Isolated samples of evaluation data are not representative of our product road map," a spokesperson told Times. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

'Hey Google, why am I sad?': Tech giant developing AI chatbot that offers life advice

<p>Search giant Google violated the patent rights of a software developer with its remote-streaming technology and needs to pay USD 338.7 million in damages, ruled a federal judge in Waco, Texas. The ruling was passed last week on Friday (July 21). The jury found that Google's Chromecast and other devices infringed patents which were owned by Touchstream Technologies relating to streaming videos from one screen to another, according to a court representative.</p>

<p>On Monday, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said that the company will appeal the verdict and has "always developed technology independently and competed on the merits of our ideas."</p>

<p>Reuters reported that Attorneys for New York-based Touchstream didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>

<p>Touchstream, which also does business as Shodogg, said in its 2021 lawsuit that founder David Strober invented the technology in 2010 to "move" videos from a small device like a smartphone to a larger device like a television.</p>

<p>According to that complaint, Google met with Touchstream about its technology in December 2011 but it said after two months that it was not interested. Google launched Chromecast media-streaming devices in 2013.</p>

<p>Touchstream said that Google's Chromecast copied its innovations and infringed three of its patents. It also said its patents were infringed by Google's Home and Nest smart speakers and third-party televisions and speakers with Chromecast capabilities.</p>

<p>Google has denied infringing Touchstream's rights and has argued that the patents are invalid.</p>

<p>Touchstream filed similar complaints against cable providers Comcast, Charter and Altice in Texas earlier this year. Those cases are still pending.</p>

<h2><strong>Google's AI push</strong></h2>

<p>Going big on artificial intelligence tools to assist journalists, Google said last week that it was in talks with news organisations to use the tools. The spokespersons for Google did not give the names of the publishers. However, The New York Times reported that Google had held discussions with it along with Washington Post, News Corp and others.</p>

<p>These AI tools could assist journalists with options for headlines or different writing styles, for instance, in a way that "enhances their work and productivity," the Google spokesperson said, adding it was in the "earliest stages of exploring ideas".</p>

<p>"Quite simply these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating, and fact-checking their articles," the spokesperson said.</p>

<p>However, the NYT said that some executives who saw Google's pitch described it as unsettling. The report added that the executives asked not to be identified. The AI tool that was pitched is reportedly called Genesis.</p>

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Search giant Google violated the patent rights of a software developer with its remote-streaming technology and needs to pay USD 338.7 million in damages, ruled a federal judge in Waco, Texas.

Search giant Google violated the patent rights of a software developer with its remote-streaming technology and needs to pay USD 338.7 million in damages, ruled a federal judge in Waco, Texas. The ruling was passed last week on Friday (July 21). The jury found that Google's Chromecast and other devices infringed patents which were owned by Touchstream Technologies relating to streaming videos from one screen to another, according to a court representative. On Monday, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said that the company will appeal the verdict and has "always developed technology independently and competed on the merits of our ideas." Reuters reported that Attorneys for New York-based Touchstream didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Touchstream, which also does business as Shodogg, said in its 2021 lawsuit that founder David Strober invented the technology in 2010 to "move" videos from a small device like a smartphone to a larger device like a television. According to that complaint, Google met with Touchstream about its technology in December 2011 but it said after two months that it was not interested. Google launched Chromecast media-streaming devices in 2013. Touchstream said that Google's Chromecast copied its innovations and infringed three of its patents. It also said its patents were infringed by Google's Home and Nest smart speakers and third-party televisions and speakers with Chromecast capabilities. Google has denied infringing Touchstream's rights and has argued that the patents are invalid. Touchstream filed similar complaints against cable providers Comcast, Charter and Altice in Texas earlier this year. Those cases are still pending. Google's AI push Going big on artificial intelligence tools to assist journalists, Google said last week that it was in talks with news organisations to use the tools. The spokespersons for Google did not give the names of the publishers. However, The New York Times reported that Google had held discussions with it along with Washington Post, News Corp and others. These AI tools could assist journalists with options for headlines or different writing styles, for instance, in a way that "enhances their work and productivity," the Google spokesperson said, adding it was in the "earliest stages of exploring ideas". "Quite simply these tools are not intended to, and cannot, replace the essential role journalists have in reporting, creating, and fact-checking their articles," the spokesperson said. However, the NYT said that some executives who saw Google's pitch described it as unsettling. The report added that the executives asked not to be identified. The AI tool that was pitched is reportedly called Genesis. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Judge asks Google to pay USD 338.7 million in Chromecast patent case

<p>Google has been sued for allegedly “secretly stealing everything ever created and shared on the internet by hundreds of millions of Americans” to train its generative AI products like its Bard chatbot.</p>

<p>On Tuesday, a class action suit was filed in a federal court in California against Google, its parent firm Alphabet Inc., and AI sister company DeepMind, for using people’s data without their consent.</p>

<p>The plea was filed by eight individuals, who say they are seeking to represent the millions of internet users affected.</p>

<p>Among the plaintiffs are an investigative journalist and author, an actor and professor, a six-year-old child, and a young teenager.</p>

<p>If the court finds Google guilty of violating privacy and consumer protection laws, the tech firm would be asked to cough up at least $5 billion in damages.</p>

<h2><strong>Claims made by the plaintiffs&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>"Google has taken all our personal and professional information, our creative and copywritten works, our photographs, and even our emails — virtually the entirety of our digital footprint&nbsp;to build its AI products," the lawsuit claims.</p>

<p>"For years, Google harvested this data in secret, without notice or consent from anyone."</p>

<p>The plaintiffs allege that Google even stole their data from subscription-based websites and from websites known for pirated collections of books and creative works.</p>

<h2>Google urges caution with AI chatbots</h2>

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<p>The lawsuit recalls Google's privacy policy updated on July 1, which&nbsp;says&nbsp;that it may collect information that's "publicly available online" to train its AI models and build products like Google Translate, Bard, and Cloud AI capabilities.</p>

<p>"Google must understand, once and for all: it does not own the internet, it does not own our creative works, it does not own our expressions of our personhood, pictures of our families and children, or anything else simply because we share it online. Publicly available' has never meant free to use for any purpose." the lawsuit says.</p>

<p>The plaintiffs want Google to give its users the option to opt out of its “illicit data collection”.</p>

<p>They are also asking the tech firm to delete its existing catalogue of data, otherwise, they say Google should pay the owners of that content “fair compensation.”</p>

<h2><strong>Google responds</strong></h2>

<p>Responding to the accusations, Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado termed the claims “baseless”.</p>

<p>He also denied that the company had been collecting data in secret and said that it had always been clear about using data from public sources to train its AI models, reported Reuters news agency.</p>

<p>Google isn’t the only tech company facing data theft charges. Comedian Sarah Silverman and several authors recently sued OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed maker of ChatGPT, accusing it of using their copyrighted data to train the viral chatbot.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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Google has been sued for allegedly “secretly stealing everything ever created and shared on the internet by hundreds of millions of Americans” to train its generative AI products like its Bard chatbot.

Google has been sued for allegedly “secretly stealing everything ever created and shared on the internet by hundreds of millions of Americans” to train its generative AI products like its Bard chatbot. On Tuesday, a class action suit was filed in a federal court in California against Google, its parent firm Alphabet Inc., and AI sister company DeepMind, for using people’s data without their consent. The plea was filed by eight individuals, who say they are seeking to represent the millions of internet users affected. Among the plaintiffs are an investigative journalist and author, an actor and professor, a six-year-old child, and a young teenager. If the court finds Google guilty of violating privacy and consumer protection laws, the tech firm would be asked to cough up at least $5 billion in damages. Claims made by the plaintiffs "Google has taken all our personal and professional information, our creative and copywritten works, our photographs, and even our emails — virtually the entirety of our digital footprint to build its AI products," the lawsuit claims. "For years, Google harvested this data in secret, without notice or consent from anyone." The plaintiffs allege that Google even stole their data from subscription-based websites and from websites known for pirated collections of books and creative works. Google urges caution with AI chatbots The lawsuit recalls Google's privacy policy updated on July 1, which says that it may collect information that's "publicly available online" to train its AI models and build products like Google Translate, Bard, and Cloud AI capabilities. "Google must understand, once and for all: it does not own the internet, it does not own our creative works, it does not own our expressions of our personhood, pictures of our families and children, or anything else simply because we share it online. Publicly available' has never meant free to use for any purpose." the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs want Google to give its users the option to opt out of its “illicit data collection”. They are also asking the tech firm to delete its existing catalogue of data, otherwise, they say Google should pay the owners of that content “fair compensation.” Google responds Responding to the accusations, Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado termed the claims “baseless”. He also denied that the company had been collecting data in secret and said that it had always been clear about using data from public sources to train its AI models, reported Reuters news agency. Google isn’t the only tech company facing data theft charges. Comedian Sarah Silverman and several authors recently sued OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed maker of ChatGPT, accusing it of using their copyrighted data to train the viral chatbot. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

US: Google faces class action lawsuit for ‘secretly’ stealing users' data to train its AI

<p>Artificial Intelligence, which previously could only scare the humanity through works of fiction can now answer real-life questions, write codes and even seduce people. In what can be dubbed as next achievement (or travesty, depending on how you see it), an AI chatbot has passed a tough medical examination in the US. The chatbot is a health chatbot developed by Google.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Med-PaLM, the google AI chatbot, has cracked the medical licensing exam but a peer-reviewed study says its answers still fall short of those from human doctors.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The launch of ChatGPT, a generative AI developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, made the topic of artificial intelligence extremely popular. Much has been said about benefits and possible dangers of AI but health is one area where the tech has shown good progress. Media reports suggest that algorithms have been able to read certain medical scans as well as humans.</p>

<p>Google unveiled Med-PaLM in a preprint study in December. The AI chatbot has not yet been released to public.</p>

<p>Now, in a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature, researchers from Google said Med-PaLM scored 67.6 per cent on US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The minimum passing percentage required to clear this examination is 60 per cent.</p>

<p>"Med-PaLM performs encouragingly, but remains inferior to clinicians," the study said. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Google has said that it has developed a new evaluation benchmark to identify and cut down 'halucinations' -- the name given for when AI models offer false information.</p>

<p>Karan Singhal, a Google researcher and lead author of the new study, told AFP that the team has used the benchmark to test a newer version of their model with "super exciting" results.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Med-PaLM 2 has reached 86.5 per cent on the USMLE exam, topping the previous version by nearly 20 per cent, according to a preprint study released in May that has not been peer-reviewed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>James Davenport, a computer scientists at the UK's University of Bath said that "there is an elephant in the room" when it comes to AI-powered medical chatbots. He was quoted by AFP.</p>

<p>Davenport further said that there was big difference between answering "medical questions and actual medicine,"</p>

<p>Anthony Cohn, an AI expert at the UK's Leeds University, said that hallucinations would likely always be a problem for such large language models, because of their statistical nature.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Therefore these models "should always be regarded as assistants rather than the final decision makers," Cohn said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Singhal said that in the future Med-PaLM could be used to support doctors to offer up alternatives that may not have been considered otherwise.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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Artificial Intelligence, which previously could only scare the humanity through works of fiction can now answer real-life questions, write codes and even seduce people.

Artificial Intelligence, which previously could only scare the humanity through works of fiction can now answer real-life questions, write codes and even seduce people. In what can be dubbed as next achievement (or travesty, depending on how you see it), an AI chatbot has passed a tough medical examination in the US. The chatbot is a health chatbot developed by Google. Med-PaLM, the google AI chatbot, has cracked the medical licensing exam but a peer-reviewed study says its answers still fall short of those from human doctors. The launch of ChatGPT, a generative AI developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, made the topic of artificial intelligence extremely popular. Much has been said about benefits and possible dangers of AI but health is one area where the tech has shown good progress. Media reports suggest that algorithms have been able to read certain medical scans as well as humans. Google unveiled Med-PaLM in a preprint study in December. The AI chatbot has not yet been released to public. Now, in a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature, researchers from Google said Med-PaLM scored 67.6 per cent on US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The minimum passing percentage required to clear this examination is 60 per cent. "Med-PaLM performs encouragingly, but remains inferior to clinicians," the study said.  Google has said that it has developed a new evaluation benchmark to identify and cut down 'halucinations' -- the name given for when AI models offer false information. Karan Singhal, a Google researcher and lead author of the new study, told AFP that the team has used the benchmark to test a newer version of their model with "super exciting" results. Med-PaLM 2 has reached 86.5 per cent on the USMLE exam, topping the previous version by nearly 20 per cent, according to a preprint study released in May that has not been peer-reviewed. James Davenport, a computer scientists at the UK's University of Bath said that "there is an elephant in the room" when it comes to AI-powered medical chatbots. He was quoted by AFP. Davenport further said that there was big difference between answering "medical questions and actual medicine," Anthony Cohn, an AI expert at the UK's Leeds University, said that hallucinations would likely always be a problem for such large language models, because of their statistical nature. Therefore these models "should always be regarded as assistants rather than the final decision makers," Cohn said. Singhal said that in the future Med-PaLM could be used to support doctors to offer up alternatives that may not have been considered otherwise. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Google's AI health chatbot Med-PaLM cracks US medical licensing exam, says study

<p>Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is launching its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Bard in Europe and Brazil on Thursday (July 13). This is the product's biggest expansion since its February launch. The chatbot is a rival to&nbsp;Microsoft-backed&nbsp;ChatGPT.</p>

<p>Bard and ChatGPT, both&nbsp;generate human-like answers with ease using generative artificial intelligence. The chatbots are capable of holding conversations with users and can answer myriad prompts.</p>

<p>The launch of ChatGPT last year proved to be a blockbuster with it being the first such product to be available to the masses.</p>

<p><strong>Watch | Dog beats ChatGPT in predicting stocks</strong></p>

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<p>The excitement around AI has made many companies jump on the bandwagon. Many of them have invested billions hoping that the investment would translate into advertising and cloud revenue. This week, Elon Musk also <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/elon-musk-launches-long-teased-chatgpt-rival-xai-614844">launched his long-teased intelligence startup xAI</a>. The team involved in the startup includes several former engineers at Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.</p>

<h2><strong>New features in Bard</strong></h2>

<p>Google has also now added new features to Bard, which apply worldwide.</p>

<p>"Starting today, you can collaborate with Bard in over 40 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi and Spanish," Google senior product director Jack Krawczyk said in a blog post.</p>

<p>"Sometimes hearing something out loud can help you approach your idea in a different way ... This is especially helpful if you want to hear the correct pronunciation of a word or listen to a poem or script."</p>

<p>Krawczyk said that Bard users can now change the tone and style of the chatbot's responses to simple, long, short, professional or casual. The users can pin or rename conversations. They would also be able to export code to more places and use images in their prompts.</p>

<p>Local privacy regulators in Europe have held up Bard's launch in the EU. Krawczyk said that Google had since then met the regulators to reassure them of&nbsp;transparency, choice and control.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/elon-musk-launches-long-teased-chatgpt-rival-xai-614844">Elon Musk launches AI firm ‘xAI’, likely to come up with ChatGPT rival</a></strong></p>

<p>In a briefing with journalists, Amar Subramanya, engineering vice president of Bard, added that users could opt out of their data being collected.</p>

<p>In the US, Google is facing fresh class action over alleged misuse of users' personal information for training its artificial intelligence system.</p>

<p>Subramanya declined to comment on whether there were plans to develop a Bard app.</p>

<p>"Bard is an experiment," he added. "We want to be bold and responsible."</p>

<p>Nonetheless, the novelty appeal may be waning, with recent web user numbers showing that monthly traffic to ChatGPT's website and unique visitors declined for the first time ever in June.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><em>You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form"><strong>here</strong></a>.</em></p>

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Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is launching its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Bard in Europe and Brazil on Thursday (July 13). This is the product's biggest expansion since its February launch.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is launching its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Bard in Europe and Brazil on Thursday (July 13). This is the product's biggest expansion since its February launch. The chatbot is a rival to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT. Bard and ChatGPT, both generate human-like answers with ease using generative artificial intelligence. The chatbots are capable of holding conversations with users and can answer myriad prompts. The launch of ChatGPT last year proved to be a blockbuster with it being the first such product to be available to the masses. Watch | Dog beats ChatGPT in predicting stocks × The excitement around AI has made many companies jump on the bandwagon. Many of them have invested billions hoping that the investment would translate into advertising and cloud revenue. This week, Elon Musk also launched his long-teased intelligence startup xAI. The team involved in the startup includes several former engineers at Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. New features in Bard Google has also now added new features to Bard, which apply worldwide. "Starting today, you can collaborate with Bard in over 40 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi and Spanish," Google senior product director Jack Krawczyk said in a blog post. "Sometimes hearing something out loud can help you approach your idea in a different way ... This is especially helpful if you want to hear the correct pronunciation of a word or listen to a poem or script." Krawczyk said that Bard users can now change the tone and style of the chatbot's responses to simple, long, short, professional or casual. The users can pin or rename conversations. They would also be able to export code to more places and use images in their prompts. Local privacy regulators in Europe have held up Bard's launch in the EU. Krawczyk said that Google had since then met the regulators to reassure them of transparency, choice and control. Also Read | Elon Musk launches AI firm ‘xAI’, likely to come up with ChatGPT rival In a briefing with journalists, Amar Subramanya, engineering vice president of Bard, added that users could opt out of their data being collected. In the US, Google is facing fresh class action over alleged misuse of users' personal information for training its artificial intelligence system. Subramanya declined to comment on whether there were plans to develop a Bard app. "Bard is an experiment," he added. "We want to be bold and responsible." Nonetheless, the novelty appeal may be waning, with recent web user numbers showing that monthly traffic to ChatGPT's website and unique visitors declined for the first time ever in June. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Google launches its AI chatbot Bard in Europe

<p>Google was fined $2.2 million by the French authorities on Tuesday over incomplete results in its search engine and app store.</p>

<p>The Competition, Consumer and Anti-Fraud Office said the US tech firm’s search engine&nbsp;failed&nbsp;to provide adequate information concerning the ranking criteria of results.</p>

<p>It said that the results for searches on tourism accommodation lacked explanations for the prices.</p>

<p>The watchdog also said that the Google Play Store lacked information on the ranking criteria of results, payment information and dispute resolution procedures.</p>

<p>Additionally, the Google Play Store did not allow consumers to publish their reviews of apps in the store, the agency said.</p>

<p>The competition agency further said that Google has since "corrected part of the sanctioned shortcoming".</p>

<p>Responding to the charges, a Google spokesman expressed dissatisfaction with the order saying that the watchdog agency did not take the changes undertaken by the US tech giant into consideration, AFP news agency reported.</p>

<p>“We have always been transparent with our users about how our products work," the spokesman said, adding that it was open to working "constructively" with French and European regulators.</p>

<h2><strong>Not the first time</strong></h2>

<p>This is the second time that Google’s France unit was fined for providing misleading hotel rankings in its search engine.</p>

<p>In February 2021, Google France was fined 1.1 million euros after a probe found that Google's hotel rankings could be misleading for consumers.</p>

<p>The US tech giant had been applying its own algorithmic system of ratings for hotels via its search engine and on Google Maps.</p>

<p>This came after the French national competition and consumer watchdog DGCCRF initiated a probe in 2019 following a number of complaints by hoteliers against this propriety rating system.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/instagrams-twitter-like-app-threads-to-be-launched-this-week-611815">Instagram’s Twitter-like app ‘Threads’ to be launched this week</a></p>

<p>The probe revealed that the tech giant had replaced the standard classification system of the public tourist board (Atout France) with a star rating system powered by its own criteria — and which it had applied to more than 7,500 establishments.</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/twitters-ultimatum-to-tweetdeck-users-verification-required-in-these-many-days-611590">Twitter's ultimatum to TweetDeck users: Verification required or else</a></p>

<p>The DGCCRF concluded that Google had engaged in a deceptive business practice — and, with the public prosecutor, it proposed the sanction announced today on Google Ireland (the tech giant’s European HQ) and Google France.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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Google was fined $2.2 million by the French authorities on Tuesday over incomplete results in its search engine and app store. The Competition, Consumer and Anti-Fraud Office said the US tech firm’s search engine failed to provide adequate information concerning the ranking criteria of results.

Google was fined $2.2 million by the French authorities on Tuesday over incomplete results in its search engine and app store. The Competition, Consumer and Anti-Fraud Office said the US tech firm’s search engine failed to provide adequate information concerning the ranking criteria of results. It said that the results for searches on tourism accommodation lacked explanations for the prices. The watchdog also said that the Google Play Store lacked information on the ranking criteria of results, payment information and dispute resolution procedures. Additionally, the Google Play Store did not allow consumers to publish their reviews of apps in the store, the agency said. The competition agency further said that Google has since "corrected part of the sanctioned shortcoming". Responding to the charges, a Google spokesman expressed dissatisfaction with the order saying that the watchdog agency did not take the changes undertaken by the US tech giant into consideration, AFP news agency reported. “We have always been transparent with our users about how our products work," the spokesman said, adding that it was open to working "constructively" with French and European regulators. Not the first time This is the second time that Google’s France unit was fined for providing misleading hotel rankings in its search engine. In February 2021, Google France was fined 1.1 million euros after a probe found that Google's hotel rankings could be misleading for consumers. The US tech giant had been applying its own algorithmic system of ratings for hotels via its search engine and on Google Maps. This came after the French national competition and consumer watchdog DGCCRF initiated a probe in 2019 following a number of complaints by hoteliers against this propriety rating system. Also read | Instagram’s Twitter-like app ‘Threads’ to be launched this week The probe revealed that the tech giant had replaced the standard classification system of the public tourist board (Atout France) with a star rating system powered by its own criteria — and which it had applied to more than 7,500 establishments. Also read | Twitter's ultimatum to TweetDeck users: Verification required or else The DGCCRF concluded that Google had engaged in a deceptive business practice — and, with the public prosecutor, it proposed the sanction announced today on Google Ireland (the tech giant’s European HQ) and Google France. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

French officials fine Google $2.2 million over incomplete search results

<p>A report from an advertisement research firm has claimed that dozens of advertisers using TrueView, Google advertisement product, may not be getting what they paid for and that Google may have misled them about the viewership, reported The Guardian.</p>

<p>TrueView is Google's proprietary ad product that displays advertisements on YouTube and other apps on the internet.</p>

<p>The user can skip the ad after five seconds. The advertisers get charged if the user watches the ad for 30 seconds or throughout if the length of the ad&nbsp;is less than 30 seconds. Whether audio is playing or not is also important.</p>

<p>Guardian cited a report by Adalytics, an advertisement research firm, which said that advertisers may not be getting what they paid for.</p>

<p><strong>Watch | Millions of Android users at risk as dangerous spyware found in over 100 apps on Google Play</strong></p>

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<p>The firm reportedly reviewed ad campaigns of more than 1000 brands across the internet. It found that TrueView ads did not meet Google's own guidelines. The firm reportedly found that some ads were run in small video players in the corner or at the side of the screen. They were fully muted and had no video content.</p>

<p>The websites running muted ads, included 'NYTimes, Reuters, Wired, Mashable and Gizmodo' as reported by The Guardian.</p>

<p>Adalytics has said that mis-identified adverstising has been running since 2020.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/firing-season-continues-google-lays-off-employees-at-its-mapping-app-waze-609587">Firing season continues: Google lays off employees at its mapping app Waze</a></strong></p>

<p>Google has rejected findings of the report. In a blog post, Google's director of global video solutions, Marvin Renaud has denied that Adalytics' findings were accurate. He said that the report contained “extremely inaccurate claims”. He further said that advertisers pay for ads only when they were being viewed.</p>

<p>“We use real-time ad quality signals to determine if people are present and paying attention that help us decide whether to serve a video ad in a Google Video Partner site or app,” he said.</p>

<p>Renaud stressed that Google monitors adherence to its policies and stops serving ads on over 143,000 websites after it found they were in violation.</p>

<p>He also added that report incorrectly claimed that most of ad campaigns are run on third-party sites rather than YouTube and said the opposite is true.<br />
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A report from an advertisement research firm has claimed that dozens of advertisers using TrueView, Google advertisement product, may not be getting what they paid for and that Google may have misled them about the viewership, reported The Guardian.

A report from an advertisement research firm has claimed that dozens of advertisers using TrueView, Google advertisement product, may not be getting what they paid for and that Google may have misled them about the viewership, reported The Guardian. TrueView is Google's proprietary ad product that displays advertisements on YouTube and other apps on the internet. The user can skip the ad after five seconds. The advertisers get charged if the user watches the ad for 30 seconds or throughout if the length of the ad is less than 30 seconds. Whether audio is playing or not is also important. Guardian cited a report by Adalytics, an advertisement research firm, which said that advertisers may not be getting what they paid for. Watch | Millions of Android users at risk as dangerous spyware found in over 100 apps on Google Play × The firm reportedly reviewed ad campaigns of more than 1000 brands across the internet. It found that TrueView ads did not meet Google's own guidelines. The firm reportedly found that some ads were run in small video players in the corner or at the side of the screen. They were fully muted and had no video content. The websites running muted ads, included 'NYTimes, Reuters, Wired, Mashable and Gizmodo' as reported by The Guardian. Adalytics has said that mis-identified adverstising has been running since 2020. Also Read | Firing season continues: Google lays off employees at its mapping app Waze Google has rejected findings of the report. In a blog post, Google's director of global video solutions, Marvin Renaud has denied that Adalytics' findings were accurate. He said that the report contained “extremely inaccurate claims”. He further said that advertisers pay for ads only when they were being viewed. “We use real-time ad quality signals to determine if people are present and paying attention that help us decide whether to serve a video ad in a Google Video Partner site or app,” he said. Renaud stressed that Google monitors adherence to its policies and stops serving ads on over 143,000 websites after it found they were in violation. He also added that report incorrectly claimed that most of ad campaigns are run on third-party sites rather than YouTube and said the opposite is true. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Google possibly misled dozens of advertisers about viewership, says report

<p>The trend of big tech companies laying off employees is far from being over. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google on Tuesday announced fresh round of firings at&nbsp;mapping app Waze as it merges the app's advertising system with Google Ads technology.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“We have decided to transition Waze’s ads monetization to be managed by the Global Business Organization (GBO), similar to Google Maps.&nbsp;Unfortunately, this will result in a reduction of Waze Ads monetisation-focused roles in sales, marketing, operations and analytics,"&nbsp; wrote&nbsp;Chris Phillips, who oversees Google’s maps division called Geo, in an email to the employees.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“Decisions like these are incredibly difficult.&nbsp;Each one of these Wazers contributed to Waze’s success and culture, and I want to express my gratitude and respect for what they have achieved,"</p>

<p>The search engine giant acquired Waze for $1.3 billion in 2013. The Waze unit had more than 500 employees as of Tuesday but it remains unclear how many survived the fallout.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/googles-sundar-pichai-hints-at-more-layoffs-582070"><strong>WATCH |&nbsp;Google's Sundar Pichai hints at more layoffs</strong></a></p>

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<p>Waze also seemingly confirmed the firings in a statement.&nbsp;"In order to create a better, more seamless long-term experience for Waze advertisers, we've begun transitioning Waze's existing advertising system to Google Ads technology. As part of this update, we've reduced those roles focused on Waze Ads monetisation and are providing employees with mobility resources and severance options in accordance with local requirements," said Caroline Bourdeau, Waze’s head of PR.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Notably, the Waze app, which has roughly 1140 million active users, employs a crowdsourcing technique that allows it to determine the fastest driving route from one location to another. However, since last year, Google has been working towards assimilating Waze with its own Geo unit. The group also includes products like Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Google fires 12,000 employees</strong></h2>

<p>After a bumper hiring spree in the aftermath of the pandemic, the tech giants have been cutting back on the workforce. In January, Alphabet announced it was laying off 12,000 employees, or six per cent of its workforce.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The indications were given by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai last year when he said he was attempting to make the company 20 per cent more efficient.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“We want to make sure as a company, when you have fewer resources than before, you are prioritizing all the right things to be working on and your employees are really productive that they can actually have impact on the things they’re working on so that’s what we are spending our time on,” said Pichai.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also read:<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/google-will-slow-down-hiring-amid-recession-fears-says-sundar-pichai-in-a-memo-to-staff-496998" target="_blank">&nbsp;Google to slow down hiring, says Sundar Pichai in a memo to staff</a></strong></p>

<p>“Across everything we do, we can be slower to make decisions. You look at it end-to-end and figure out how to make the company 20 per cent more productive.”</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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The trend of big tech companies laying off employees is far from being over. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google on Tuesday announced fresh round of firings at mapping app Waze as it merges the app's advertising system with Google Ads technology.

The trend of big tech companies laying off employees is far from being over. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google on Tuesday announced fresh round of firings at mapping app Waze as it merges the app's advertising system with Google Ads technology. “We have decided to transition Waze’s ads monetization to be managed by the Global Business Organization (GBO), similar to Google Maps. Unfortunately, this will result in a reduction of Waze Ads monetisation-focused roles in sales, marketing, operations and analytics," wrote Chris Phillips, who oversees Google’s maps division called Geo, in an email to the employees. “Decisions like these are incredibly difficult. Each one of these Wazers contributed to Waze’s success and culture, and I want to express my gratitude and respect for what they have achieved," The search engine giant acquired Waze for $1.3 billion in 2013. The Waze unit had more than 500 employees as of Tuesday but it remains unclear how many survived the fallout. WATCH | Google's Sundar Pichai hints at more layoffs × Waze also seemingly confirmed the firings in a statement. "In order to create a better, more seamless long-term experience for Waze advertisers, we've begun transitioning Waze's existing advertising system to Google Ads technology. As part of this update, we've reduced those roles focused on Waze Ads monetisation and are providing employees with mobility resources and severance options in accordance with local requirements," said Caroline Bourdeau, Waze’s head of PR. Notably, the Waze app, which has roughly 1140 million active users, employs a crowdsourcing technique that allows it to determine the fastest driving route from one location to another. However, since last year, Google has been working towards assimilating Waze with its own Geo unit. The group also includes products like Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View. Google fires 12,000 employees After a bumper hiring spree in the aftermath of the pandemic, the tech giants have been cutting back on the workforce. In January, Alphabet announced it was laying off 12,000 employees, or six per cent of its workforce. The indications were given by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai last year when he said he was attempting to make the company 20 per cent more efficient. “We want to make sure as a company, when you have fewer resources than before, you are prioritizing all the right things to be working on and your employees are really productive that they can actually have impact on the things they’re working on so that’s what we are spending our time on,” said Pichai. Also read: Google to slow down hiring, says Sundar Pichai in a memo to staff “Across everything we do, we can be slower to make decisions. You look at it end-to-end and figure out how to make the company 20 per cent more productive.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Firing season continues: Google lays off employees at its mapping app Waze

<p>Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the US and publisher of USA Today, on Tuesday (June 20) sued Google saying that the search giant was attempting to corner the market for online advertising by monopolising ad technology. Gannett filed the complaint in Manhattan federal court in New York. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Gannett, which runs more than 200 daily newspapers, says that Google's control over tools for buying and selling online ads forces publishers to sell more cheap ad space to the Alphabet Inc unit.</p>

<p>The publishing giant has thus alleged that Google reaps "exorbitant monopoly profits" while leaving publishers with "dramatically less revenue".</p>

<p>"Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy," Gannett Chief Executive Mike Reed said in an opinion published in USA Today. "Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms."</p>

<p><strong>Watch | EU pushing to break Google's monopoly</strong></p>

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<p>Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads replied, "These claims are simply wrong." In a statement quoted by AFP, Taylor said that publishers have many options for advertising tech and that "they keep the vast majority of revenue" when they use Google.</p>

<p>Gannett said it wants "very substantial" actual, punitive and triple damages.</p>

<p>Google is already in the crosshairs of regulators on two continents. The lawsuit from Gannett adds to the pressure on the tech giant.</p>

<p>Earlier this month, the European Union said Google might have to sell some of its ad technology. The EU has brought a lawsuit.</p>

<p>Five months ago, the US Department of Justice brought its case against Google. Seventeen US states have now joined the case. Another group of states led by Texas is also suing.</p>

<h2><strong>Huge revenues</strong></h2>

<p>Google recorded USD 224.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2022. This accounted for nearly 80 per cent&nbsp;of Alphabet's overall revenue and it was a major driver of Alphabet's overall $60 billion profit.</p>

<p>Advertising lets Google offer many services for free, including email, Android and much of its YouTube video platform.</p>

<p>Google's first-quarter ad revenue was $54.5 billion, little changed from a year earlier.</p>

<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/after-apple-google-to-shift-some-smartphone-production-to-india-606653">After Apple, Google to shift some smartphone production to India, diversify its supply chain away from China</a></strong></p>

<p>Newspaper publishers are struggling with falling ad revenues as more and more people are getting news online.</p>

<p>According to Gannett, digital advertising is a USD 200 billion business. The value has increased eightfold since 2009. During the same period, the newspaper ad revenue has fallen nearly 70 per cent.</p>

<p>The company said print circulation at its newspapers fell nearly 20 per cent&nbsp;in 2020 and 2021, and that it has shut more than 170 publications since 2019 when it merged with GateHouse Media.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><em>You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form"><strong>here</strong></a>.</em></p>

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Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the US and publisher of USA Today, on Tuesday (June 20) sued Google saying that the search giant was attempting to corner the market for online advertising by monopolising ad technology.

Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the US and publisher of USA Today, on Tuesday (June 20) sued Google saying that the search giant was attempting to corner the market for online advertising by monopolising ad technology. Gannett filed the complaint in Manhattan federal court in New York. Gannett, which runs more than 200 daily newspapers, says that Google's control over tools for buying and selling online ads forces publishers to sell more cheap ad space to the Alphabet Inc unit. The publishing giant has thus alleged that Google reaps "exorbitant monopoly profits" while leaving publishers with "dramatically less revenue". "Digital advertising is the lifeblood of the online economy," Gannett Chief Executive Mike Reed said in an opinion published in USA Today. "Without free and fair competition for digital ad space, publishers cannot invest in their newsrooms." Watch | EU pushing to break Google's monopoly × Dan Taylor, vice president of Google Ads replied, "These claims are simply wrong." In a statement quoted by AFP, Taylor said that publishers have many options for advertising tech and that "they keep the vast majority of revenue" when they use Google. Gannett said it wants "very substantial" actual, punitive and triple damages. Google is already in the crosshairs of regulators on two continents. The lawsuit from Gannett adds to the pressure on the tech giant. Earlier this month, the European Union said Google might have to sell some of its ad technology. The EU has brought a lawsuit. Five months ago, the US Department of Justice brought its case against Google. Seventeen US states have now joined the case. Another group of states led by Texas is also suing. Huge revenues Google recorded USD 224.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2022. This accounted for nearly 80 per cent of Alphabet's overall revenue and it was a major driver of Alphabet's overall $60 billion profit. Advertising lets Google offer many services for free, including email, Android and much of its YouTube video platform. Google's first-quarter ad revenue was $54.5 billion, little changed from a year earlier. Also Read | After Apple, Google to shift some smartphone production to India, diversify its supply chain away from China Newspaper publishers are struggling with falling ad revenues as more and more people are getting news online. According to Gannett, digital advertising is a USD 200 billion business. The value has increased eightfold since 2009. During the same period, the newspaper ad revenue has fallen nearly 70 per cent. The company said print circulation at its newspapers fell nearly 20 per cent in 2020 and 2021, and that it has shut more than 170 publications since 2019 when it merged with GateHouse Media. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Largest US newspaper chain Gannett sues Google, complains about online ad monopoly

Alphabet Inc. cautions employees about use of chatbots

<p>The European Union’s antitrust regulators have targeted Google’s highly successful advertising technology model and asked the United States-based tech giant to address its concerns over anti-competitive practices, on Wednesday (June 14). Additionally, the European Commission has also threatened the company with its harshest regulatory penalty to date.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>What did the EU say about Google’s practices?</strong></h2>

<p>The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust regulators have set out charges against Google two years after opening an investigation into the tech giant’s behaviour over favouring its own advertising services. In line with this, the EU on Wednesday said Google has “abused its dominant positions” over ad tech to crush the competition.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The announcement was made by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, on Wednesday, who called for Google to sell part of its ad tech business citing the investigation she believes that a behavioural remedy would not be effective at stopping the tech giant’s supposed anti-competitive practices.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/eus-new-antitrust-charges-to-strike-googles-most-successful-ads-model-603673">EU’s new antitrust charges to strike Google’s most successful ads model</a></strong></p>

<p>The commission said its preliminary view after the investigation is that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services” would satisfy the concerns it holds about the company’s advertising practices.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“Of course, I know this is a strong statement but it is a reflection of the nature of the markets, how they function and also why a behavioural commitment seemed to be out of the question,” said Vestager, at a press conference.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In line with this, the EU antitrust chief also suggested that “Google could divest its sell-side tools, DFP and AdX. By doing so, we would put an end to the conflicts of interest.” The move could have far-reaching implications for the tech giant, potentially resulting in significant fines and regulatory action.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eu-launches-antitrust-probe-against-google-over-online-ads-393180">EU launches antitrust probe against Google over online ads</a></strong></p>

<p>The Commission has also said Google’s favouring of its own online services is detrimental to those of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers.</p>

<h2><strong>What’s at stake for Google?</strong></h2>

<p>The stakes are high for Google as its ad tech business accounted for 79 per cent of its total revenue last year. Meanwhile, the fine against the company is reported to be as much as 10 per cent of Google’s annual global turnover.</p>

<p>It is also worth noting that Google, according to research firm Insider Intelligence, is the world’s dominant digital advertising platform with a 28 per cent market share of global ad revenue. Last year, Google’s total advertising revenue amounted to $224.5 billion, reported Reuters.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/google-european-union-to-develop-ai-pact-ahead-of-new-artificial-intelligence-rules-says-eu-industry-chief-596140">Google, European Union to develop AI pact ahead of new Artificial Intelligence rules, says EU industry chief</a></strong></p>

<p>Meanwhile, the EU will continue to investigate the tech giant’s introduction of a privacy sandbox set of tools which reportedly block third-party cookies on its Chrome browser and its plan to stop making the advertising identifier available to third parties on Android smartphones, said Vestager.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This also comes as the EU has recently expanded its crackdown on big tech companies including Facebook parent company Meta and Google with fines amounting to billions of dollars.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>How has Google responded to these accusations</strong>?</h2>

<p>In response to these charges, Google has said that it disagrees with the commission and will respond accordingly. In a statement, Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said “The Commission’s investigation focuses on a narrow aspect of our advertising business and is not new. We disagree with the EC’s view.”</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/facebook-parent-company-meta-to-face-more-than-800mn-fine-by-eu-over-data-transfer-to-us-reports-594857">Explained | EU fines Facebook parent company Meta record $1.3 billion over data transfer to US</a></strong></p>

<h2><strong>EU vs Google: An ongoing saga</strong></h2>

<p>Earlier, the EU launched an investigation against Google back in 2021, which aimed at examining whether Google obstructed rivals’ access to user data for online advertising and if it unfairly ring-fenced data for its own use.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This also comes as Google is actively contesting antitrust fines imposed by the EU in court, including a landmark penalty of 4.34 billion euros ($4.7bn) for its management of the Android mobile operating system, which it is currently challenging in the highest court within the EU.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;</em><br />
<br />
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The European Union’s antitrust regulators have targeted Google’s highly successful advertising technology model and asked the United States-based tech giant to address its concerns over anti-competitive practices, on Wednesday (June 14).

The European Union’s antitrust regulators have targeted Google’s highly successful advertising technology model and asked the United States-based tech giant to address its concerns over anti-competitive practices, on Wednesday (June 14). Additionally, the European Commission has also threatened the company with its harshest regulatory penalty to date. What did the EU say about Google’s practices? The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch and top antitrust regulators have set out charges against Google two years after opening an investigation into the tech giant’s behaviour over favouring its own advertising services. In line with this, the EU on Wednesday said Google has “abused its dominant positions” over ad tech to crush the competition. The announcement was made by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, on Wednesday, who called for Google to sell part of its ad tech business citing the investigation she believes that a behavioural remedy would not be effective at stopping the tech giant’s supposed anti-competitive practices. ALSO READ | EU’s new antitrust charges to strike Google’s most successful ads model The commission said its preliminary view after the investigation is that “only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services” would satisfy the concerns it holds about the company’s advertising practices. “Of course, I know this is a strong statement but it is a reflection of the nature of the markets, how they function and also why a behavioural commitment seemed to be out of the question,” said Vestager, at a press conference. In line with this, the EU antitrust chief also suggested that “Google could divest its sell-side tools, DFP and AdX. By doing so, we would put an end to the conflicts of interest.” The move could have far-reaching implications for the tech giant, potentially resulting in significant fines and regulatory action. ALSO READ | EU launches antitrust probe against Google over online ads The Commission has also said Google’s favouring of its own online services is detrimental to those of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers. What’s at stake for Google? The stakes are high for Google as its ad tech business accounted for 79 per cent of its total revenue last year. Meanwhile, the fine against the company is reported to be as much as 10 per cent of Google’s annual global turnover. It is also worth noting that Google, according to research firm Insider Intelligence, is the world’s dominant digital advertising platform with a 28 per cent market share of global ad revenue. Last year, Google’s total advertising revenue amounted to $224.5 billion, reported Reuters. ALSO READ | Google, European Union to develop AI pact ahead of new Artificial Intelligence rules, says EU industry chief Meanwhile, the EU will continue to investigate the tech giant’s introduction of a privacy sandbox set of tools which reportedly block third-party cookies on its Chrome browser and its plan to stop making the advertising identifier available to third parties on Android smartphones, said Vestager. This also comes as the EU has recently expanded its crackdown on big tech companies including Facebook parent company Meta and Google with fines amounting to billions of dollars. How has Google responded to these accusations? In response to these charges, Google has said that it disagrees with the commission and will respond accordingly. In a statement, Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said “The Commission’s investigation focuses on a narrow aspect of our advertising business and is not new. We disagree with the EC’s view.” ALSO READ | Explained | EU fines Facebook parent company Meta record $1.3 billion over data transfer to US EU vs Google: An ongoing saga Earlier, the EU launched an investigation against Google back in 2021, which aimed at examining whether Google obstructed rivals’ access to user data for online advertising and if it unfairly ring-fenced data for its own use. This also comes as Google is actively contesting antitrust fines imposed by the EU in court, including a landmark penalty of 4.34 billion euros ($4.7bn) for its management of the Android mobile operating system, which it is currently challenging in the highest court within the EU. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

EU orders Google to break up ad tech model for ‘abusing its dominant position’

<p>In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, the competition between Microsoft and Google has reached new heights as both companies strive to revolutionize the way people search for information.</p>

<p>Marking a strategic shift in its priorities, Microsoft recently made a bold move by announcing that the company will be&nbsp;intensifying its focus on generative artificial intelligence (AI), a subset of artificial intelligence&nbsp;that can create a wide variety of data, such as images, videos, audio, text, and 3D models.</p>

<p>To close the gap with rival Google and stay at the forefront of innovation, Microsoft has already rolled out a range of AI enhancements across its platforms.</p>

<p>Notably, one of the significant updates involves the incorporation of real-time Bing search results into ChatGPT, a feature that was previously limited to data-only responses. By integrating real-time search results, Microsoft aims to provide users with more comprehensive and up-to-date information, enhancing their overall experience.</p>

<p>Moreover, as part of its collaboration with OpenAI, Microsoft has invested&nbsp;billions of dollars into ChatGPT's development, solidifying its commitment to&nbsp;artificial intelligence research.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In response to Microsoft's AI advancements, Google, under the umbrella of Alphabet Inc, has&nbsp;been actively exploring the potential of generative AI in search results. In a bid to maintain its supremacy&nbsp;in the lucrative search ads segment, Google, the most used search engine in the world,&nbsp;has announced plans to test advertisements in generative AI search results.</p>

<p>While the AI competition unfolds, it is worth noting that Microsoft has faced challenges in persuading major mobile device manufacturers to adopt Bing as their default search engine.</p>

<p>Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers, has made it clear that it has no plans to replace Google with Bing.</p>

<p>Long-standing agreements with mobile device manufacturers like Apple and Xiaomi play a pivotal role in search engines' revenue streams. Notably, Google's arrangement with Samsung alone is estimated to generate a staggering $3 billion in annual revenue.</p>

<p>As the AI battle between Microsoft and Google escalates, it is evident that both companies are committed to pushing the boundaries of AI technology and its applications. This is good news for users, who can anticipate groundbreaking advancements in the way they search for information.&nbsp;</p>


In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, the competition between Microsoft and Google has reached new heights as both companies strive to revolutionize the way people search for information.

In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, the competition between Microsoft and Google has reached new heights as both companies strive to revolutionize the way people search for information. Marking a strategic shift in its priorities, Microsoft recently made a bold move by announcing that the company will be intensifying its focus on generative artificial intelligence (AI), a subset of artificial intelligence that can create a wide variety of data, such as images, videos, audio, text, and 3D models. To close the gap with rival Google and stay at the forefront of innovation, Microsoft has already rolled out a range of AI enhancements across its platforms. Notably, one of the significant updates involves the incorporation of real-time Bing search results into ChatGPT, a feature that was previously limited to data-only responses. By integrating real-time search results, Microsoft aims to provide users with more comprehensive and up-to-date information, enhancing their overall experience. Moreover, as part of its collaboration with OpenAI, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into ChatGPT's development, solidifying its commitment to artificial intelligence research. In response to Microsoft's AI advancements, Google, under the umbrella of Alphabet Inc, has been actively exploring the potential of generative AI in search results. In a bid to maintain its supremacy in the lucrative search ads segment, Google, the most used search engine in the world, has announced plans to test advertisements in generative AI search results. While the AI competition unfolds, it is worth noting that Microsoft has faced challenges in persuading major mobile device manufacturers to adopt Bing as their default search engine. Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers, has made it clear that it has no plans to replace Google with Bing. Long-standing agreements with mobile device manufacturers like Apple and Xiaomi play a pivotal role in search engines' revenue streams. Notably, Google's arrangement with Samsung alone is estimated to generate a staggering $3 billion in annual revenue. As the AI battle between Microsoft and Google escalates, it is evident that both companies are committed to pushing the boundaries of AI technology and its applications. This is good news for users, who can anticipate groundbreaking advancements in the way they search for information.

Microsoft vs Google: The Artificial Intelligence battle heats up

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<p>Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has a doomsday prediction for the likes of Google, Amazon and other tech giants. Speaking at an event in San Francisco, Gates said that a future Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal assistant would be so efficient and profound that other competitors will not be able to stand their ground.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Gates said the first company to develop such a programme will be the market leader and could potentially alter user behaviour for good.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” said Gates.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/race-for-powerful-ai-tools-heats-up-559948"><strong>WATCH |&nbsp;Race for powerful AI tools heats up</strong></a></p>

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<p>Gates posited that there is a 50-50 chance that the future AI winner will be either a startup or a tech giant.</p>

<p>“I’d be disappointed if Microsoft didn’t come in there. But I’m impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection,” said Gates, referring to Inflection.AI, co-founded by former DeepMind executive Mustafa Suleyman.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/google-bard-vs-chatgpt-which-is-better-ai-tool-know-how-to-access-google-chatbot-all-you-need-to-know-559622" target="_blank"><strong>Read more: Google Bard vs ChatGPT: Which is better AI tool? Know how to access Google chatbot, all you need to know</strong></a></p>

<h2><strong>Gates remains bullish about AI</strong></h2>

<p>Gates is one of the few industry giants that is extremely bullish about the future of AI. Last month, he said AI might be able to teach children how to 'read and write' in the coming year or two.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“If you just took the next 18 months, the AIs will come in as a teacher’s aide and give feedback on writing. And then they will amp up what we’re able to do in math. Our bottleneck in math really is more of how we fit in the overall system and getting that teacher adoption," wrote the billionaire on his website “Gates Notes”.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT Plus may charge for the service, but they will still be more accessible and affordable compared to traditional human tutoring.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ai-likely-to-teach-children-to-read-write-in-next-18-months-suggests-bill-gates-586574" target="_blank"><strong>ALSO READ | AI likely to teach children to ‘read, write’ in next 18 months, suggests Bill Gates</strong></a></p>

<h2><strong>LLMs and their future</strong></h2>

<p>Large Language Models like OpenAI's GPT-3 powering ChatGPT and Google's LaMDA powering Bard are exceptionally good at learning and executing tasks on the fly.</p>

<p>Within a few months of ChatGPT's debut, the AI field has made tremendous strides. With future LLMs expected to build upon previous knowledge, just the way humans do,&nbsp;according to a recent MIT study, Gates' theory might come to fruition, in reality,&nbsp;sooner than expected.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;</strong></p>

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has a doomsday prediction for the likes of Google, Amazon and other tech giants. Speaking at an event in San Francisco, Gates said that a future Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal assistant would be so efficient and profound that other competitors will not be able to stand their ground.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has a doomsday prediction for the likes of Google, Amazon and other tech giants. Speaking at an event in San Francisco, Gates said that a future Artificial Intelligence (AI) personal assistant would be so efficient and profound that other competitors will not be able to stand their ground. Gates said the first company to develop such a programme will be the market leader and could potentially alter user behaviour for good. “Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” said Gates. WATCH | Race for powerful AI tools heats up × Gates posited that there is a 50-50 chance that the future AI winner will be either a startup or a tech giant. “I’d be disappointed if Microsoft didn’t come in there. But I’m impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection,” said Gates, referring to Inflection.AI, co-founded by former DeepMind executive Mustafa Suleyman. Read more: Google Bard vs ChatGPT: Which is better AI tool? Know how to access Google chatbot, all you need to know Gates remains bullish about AI Gates is one of the few industry giants that is extremely bullish about the future of AI. Last month, he said AI might be able to teach children how to 'read and write' in the coming year or two. “If you just took the next 18 months, the AIs will come in as a teacher’s aide and give feedback on writing. And then they will amp up what we’re able to do in math. Our bottleneck in math really is more of how we fit in the overall system and getting that teacher adoption," wrote the billionaire on his website “Gates Notes”. He said AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT Plus may charge for the service, but they will still be more accessible and affordable compared to traditional human tutoring. ALSO READ | AI likely to teach children to ‘read, write’ in next 18 months, suggests Bill Gates LLMs and their future Large Language Models like OpenAI's GPT-3 powering ChatGPT and Google's LaMDA powering Bard are exceptionally good at learning and executing tasks on the fly. Within a few months of ChatGPT's debut, the AI field has made tremendous strides. With future LLMs expected to build upon previous knowledge, just the way humans do, according to a recent MIT study, Gates' theory might come to fruition, in reality, sooner than expected. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Bill Gates has a doomsday prediction, says AI could kill Google Search and Amazon

<p>In order to make Google accounts more safe and more secure, the company has announced to delete accounts that are being inactive for more than two years. Google announces new guidelines for accounts on its platform on Tuesday to update its inactivity policy. Any Google account that has not been used for at least 2 years will be deleted.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Accounts that have been inactive for an extended period of time are more likely to be compromised. This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than the active ones to have 2-step verification set up. Meaning, these are often vulnerable, and once compromised, can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” Ruth Krichelli, Vice President, Product Management, said in an official blog post.</p>

<p>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/youve-heard-music-but-have-you-heard-space-music-nasa-images-are-thrown-in-too-593270">You've heard music but have you heard 'space music'? NASA images are thrown in too</a></p>

<p>Google’s new inactivity policy will start later this year. The company may delete the account and its contents including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Meet, Drive, Calendar), YouTube and Google Photos.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The new policy will only be applicable to personal Google accounts, and will not affect accounts for organisations like schools or businesses.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information,” Google’s blog read.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Google says that the new plan will be rolled out carefully and gradually, with plenty of notice. Even though the new policy takes effect today, it will not immediately impact users with inactive accounts. As per Google, the earliest deletion of accounts will begin in December 2023.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Deleting of accounts will take place in a phased manner, starting with accounts that were once created and never used again.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/kids-using-smartphones-may-face-mental-health-issues-as-adults-reveals-study-592851">Kids using smartphones may face some serious mental health issues as adults, reveals study</a></p>

<p>“Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided),” Google clarified.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Here’s how you can keep your account active</strong>&nbsp;</h2>

<p>In order to keep your account active, even if you don’t use it daily sign in at least every 2 years. If you have signed into your Google account or any of Google’s services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted.</p>

<p>The activity might include these types of actions when you sign in or while you’re signed in to your Google account:</p>

<p>-Reading or sending an email</p>

<p>-Using Google Drive</p>

<p>-Watching a YouTube video</p>

<p>-Downloading an app on the Google Play Store</p>

<p>-Using Google Search</p>

<p>-Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service</p>

<h2><strong>Creating a backup for your account&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>It is always better to have a recovery e-mail at sign-up to recover your account or its content whenever such a situation arises. Google’s Inactive Account Manager allows users to decide what happens to their account and data when it becomes inactive for a period of up to 18 months.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>&nbsp;</p>


In order to make Google accounts more safe and more secure, the company has announced to delete accounts that are being inactive for more than two years. Google announces new guidelines for accounts on its platform on Tuesday to update its inactivity policy.

In order to make Google accounts more safe and more secure, the company has announced to delete accounts that are being inactive for more than two years. Google announces new guidelines for accounts on its platform on Tuesday to update its inactivity policy. Any Google account that has not been used for at least 2 years will be deleted. Accounts that have been inactive for an extended period of time are more likely to be compromised. This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised. “Our internal analysis shows abandoned accounts are at least 10x less likely than the active ones to have 2-step verification set up. Meaning, these are often vulnerable, and once compromised, can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam,” Ruth Krichelli, Vice President, Product Management, said in an official blog post. Also Read | You've heard music but have you heard 'space music'? NASA images are thrown in too Google’s new inactivity policy will start later this year. The company may delete the account and its contents including content within Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Meet, Drive, Calendar), YouTube and Google Photos. The new policy will only be applicable to personal Google accounts, and will not affect accounts for organisations like schools or businesses. “This update aligns our policy with industry standards around retention and account deletion and also limits the amount of time Google retains your unused personal information,” Google’s blog read. Google says that the new plan will be rolled out carefully and gradually, with plenty of notice. Even though the new policy takes effect today, it will not immediately impact users with inactive accounts. As per Google, the earliest deletion of accounts will begin in December 2023. Deleting of accounts will take place in a phased manner, starting with accounts that were once created and never used again. Also Read | Kids using smartphones may face some serious mental health issues as adults, reveals study “Before deleting an account, we will send multiple notifications over the months leading up to deletion, to both the account email address and the recovery email (if one has been provided),” Google clarified. Here’s how you can keep your account active In order to keep your account active, even if you don’t use it daily sign in at least every 2 years. If you have signed into your Google account or any of Google’s services recently, your account is considered active and will not be deleted. The activity might include these types of actions when you sign in or while you’re signed in to your Google account: -Reading or sending an email -Using Google Drive -Watching a YouTube video -Downloading an app on the Google Play Store -Using Google Search -Using Sign in with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service Creating a backup for your account It is always better to have a recovery e-mail at sign-up to recover your account or its content whenever such a situation arises. Google’s Inactive Account Manager allows users to decide what happens to their account and data when it becomes inactive for a period of up to 18 months. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Google to delete inactive accounts, including content of Google Drive and YouTube- Should you worry?

<p>Google officially launched its artificial intelligence chatbot, called Bard, to take on rival Open AI’s ChatGPT, which is backed by Microsoft.</p>

<p>At an annual Google developers conference in Silicon Valley on Thursday, the tech giant announced that its new tool will be rolled out in over 180 countries.</p>

<p>Google said that its AI chatbot has been imbibed into 25 products, including Maps and Gmail, and will let users&nbsp;write mail responses with the help of Bard.</p>

<p>"Seven years into our journey as an AI-first company, we are at an exciting inflection point," Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, told thousands of developers gathered for the event.</p>

<p>"With generative AI, we're taking the next step, with a bold and responsible approach, we are reimagining all of our products."</p>

<p>However, one noticeable key decision Google has taken differently than Microsoft is that unlike ChatGPT which is ingrained into Bing search, Bard chatbot will not be included in the Google search.</p>

<p><strong>How Bard is different from ChatGPT</strong></p>

<p>The tech firm said that its traditional Google search will still be used for finding and seeking information, such as locating something to purchase.</p>

<p>Whereas Bard AI chatbot, which has a persona that can hold human-like conversations, will be used for “creative collaboration” for instance, to generate software code or write a caption for a photo.</p>

<h2><strong>Bard: Google's AI powered chatbot coming to 180 countries</strong></h2>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/bard-googles-ai-powered-chatbot-coming-to-180-countries-591249/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>These answers will be corroborated by authoritative websites, and it will also continue including ads in responses.</p>

<p>A separate AI technology is coming to Google search that is called Search Generative Experience.</p>

<p>The company's AI efforts would be carried out in a "bold and responsible" way, senior product director Jack Krawczyk said during the briefing.</p>

<p>Bard will be modified to support 40 languages in coming months, Krawczyk said, "We're excited to get Bard into more people's hands.&nbsp;We're pretty fired up about where Bard is going."</p>

<p><strong>Which countries can try new Google search</strong></p>

<p>The new Google search with AI is yet to be released for mass internet users. The first to get exclusive access would be US users in coming weeks via a wait list. During this initial phase, Google will monitor the quality, speed and cost of search results.</p>

<p><strong>How to use Bard in India</strong></p>

<p>Google said Bard is now available with no wait list in 180 countries. Initially, the Google Bard chatbot was only available in the UK and the US. Interested Indian users can now join the waitlist for the AI chatbot via the Google Bard official website.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

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Google officially launched its artificial intelligence chatbot, called Bard, to take on rival Open AI’s ChatGPT, which is backed by Microsoft. At an annual Google developers conference in Silicon Valley on Thursday, the tech giant announced that its new tool will be rolled out in over 180 countries.

Google officially launched its artificial intelligence chatbot, called Bard, to take on rival Open AI’s ChatGPT, which is backed by Microsoft. At an annual Google developers conference in Silicon Valley on Thursday, the tech giant announced that its new tool will be rolled out in over 180 countries. Google said that its AI chatbot has been imbibed into 25 products, including Maps and Gmail, and will let users write mail responses with the help of Bard. "Seven years into our journey as an AI-first company, we are at an exciting inflection point," Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, told thousands of developers gathered for the event. "With generative AI, we're taking the next step, with a bold and responsible approach, we are reimagining all of our products." However, one noticeable key decision Google has taken differently than Microsoft is that unlike ChatGPT which is ingrained into Bing search, Bard chatbot will not be included in the Google search. How Bard is different from ChatGPT The tech firm said that its traditional Google search will still be used for finding and seeking information, such as locating something to purchase. Whereas Bard AI chatbot, which has a persona that can hold human-like conversations, will be used for “creative collaboration” for instance, to generate software code or write a caption for a photo. Bard: Google's AI powered chatbot coming to 180 countries These answers will be corroborated by authoritative websites, and it will also continue including ads in responses. A separate AI technology is coming to Google search that is called Search Generative Experience. The company's AI efforts would be carried out in a "bold and responsible" way, senior product director Jack Krawczyk said during the briefing. Bard will be modified to support 40 languages in coming months, Krawczyk said, "We're excited to get Bard into more people's hands. We're pretty fired up about where Bard is going." Which countries can try new Google search The new Google search with AI is yet to be released for mass internet users. The first to get exclusive access would be US users in coming weeks via a wait list. During this initial phase, Google will monitor the quality, speed and cost of search results. How to use Bard in India Google said Bard is now available with no wait list in 180 countries. Initially, the Google Bard chatbot was only available in the UK and the US. Interested Indian users can now join the waitlist for the AI chatbot via the Google Bard official website. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Google rolls out Bard AI chatbot. Here’s how it differs from ChatGPT

<p>Google on Wednesday announced that the wait list for Bard, which was launched in March this year, has been removed.</p>

<p>The AI chatbot, which people in the United Kingdom and the United States earlier had limited access to, has now been opened up for 180 countries around the world.</p>

<p>The announcement was made by Google in its I/O developer conference where it also stated its plans to integrate it into search after a similar move was made by Microsoft with ChatGPT.</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |</strong> <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/google-launches-its-ai-chatbot-bard-for-users-in-the-us-uk-574459">Google launches its AI chatbot ‘Bard’ for users in US, UK</a></p>

<p>However, the complete list of territories where Bard has been made available was not published by Google, but like ChatGPT, the AI chatbot cannot be used by people in Hong Kong currently.</p>

<p>When attempts were made by people to access the service on Thursday, they received a message saying that “Bard isn’t currently supported in your country. Stay tuned!”</p>

<p>In a blog post which stated about Bard's expanded service on Wednesday, Google stated that more territories and countries are “coming soon”.</p>

<p>When quizzed about the absence of Bard in Hong Kong, the plans were not explained by Google for specific markets.</p>

<p>“Bard is in its early days – and given how new the technology is, we want to roll it out thoughtfully and responsibly,” said a Google spokeswoman in an emailed statement.</p>

<p>Microsoft-supported OpenAI, which is the creator of the controversial ChatGPT, has also not made its services available in Hong Kong. The company has a list of 163 markets where the AI chatbot is available.</p>

<p>Most of the countries not listed among the markets of ChatGPT are either sanctioned or the nations which exhibit tight internet controls like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.</p>

<p><strong>WATCH | Bard : Google's AI powered chatbot coming to 180 countries</strong></p>

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<p>However, both ChatGPT and Bard can be accessed by people through virtual private networks (VPNs), although extra steps have been taken by OpenAI to stop this by blocking a few VPN connections and creating a requirement of a phone number to create an account.</p>

<p>Bard is a rival to Open AI's ChatGPT. Currently, Google is racing to catch up with Microsoft which has moved forward to integrate ChatGPT-like powers in different arrays of its products, which includes the Bing search engine.</p>

<p>The technology in Bard will provide features like filling in the text to help write emails and suggesting ideas for creating artwork by looking into a picture of available supplies.</p>

<p>Bard will also be able to hold human-like conversations and can be used for creative collaboration, like generating software code or creating a caption for a photo.</p>

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Google on Wednesday announced that the wait list for Bard, which was launched in March this year, has been removed. The AI chatbot, which people in the United Kingdom and the United States earlier had limited access to, has now been opened up for 180 countries around the world.

Google on Wednesday announced that the wait list for Bard, which was launched in March this year, has been removed. The AI chatbot, which people in the United Kingdom and the United States earlier had limited access to, has now been opened up for 180 countries around the world. The announcement was made by Google in its I/O developer conference where it also stated its plans to integrate it into search after a similar move was made by Microsoft with ChatGPT. ALSO READ | Google launches its AI chatbot ‘Bard’ for users in US, UK However, the complete list of territories where Bard has been made available was not published by Google, but like ChatGPT, the AI chatbot cannot be used by people in Hong Kong currently. When attempts were made by people to access the service on Thursday, they received a message saying that “Bard isn’t currently supported in your country. Stay tuned!” In a blog post which stated about Bard's expanded service on Wednesday, Google stated that more territories and countries are “coming soon”. When quizzed about the absence of Bard in Hong Kong, the plans were not explained by Google for specific markets. “Bard is in its early days – and given how new the technology is, we want to roll it out thoughtfully and responsibly,” said a Google spokeswoman in an emailed statement. Microsoft-supported OpenAI, which is the creator of the controversial ChatGPT, has also not made its services available in Hong Kong. The company has a list of 163 markets where the AI chatbot is available. Most of the countries not listed among the markets of ChatGPT are either sanctioned or the nations which exhibit tight internet controls like Russia, Iran, North Korea and China. WATCH | Bard : Google's AI powered chatbot coming to 180 countries However, both ChatGPT and Bard can be accessed by people through virtual private networks (VPNs), although extra steps have been taken by OpenAI to stop this by blocking a few VPN connections and creating a requirement of a phone number to create an account. Bard is a rival to Open AI's ChatGPT. Currently, Google is racing to catch up with Microsoft which has moved forward to integrate ChatGPT-like powers in different arrays of its products, which includes the Bing search engine. The technology in Bard will provide features like filling in the text to help write emails and suggesting ideas for creating artwork by looking into a picture of available supplies. Bard will also be able to hold human-like conversations and can be used for creative collaboration, like generating software code or creating a caption for a photo. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Hong Kong not a part of '180 countries' which have Google’s ChatGPT rival Bard

<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidutE7rUOx7pF3" /><meta charset="utf-8" />The US Virgin Islands government is struggling to locate Google co-founder Larry Page to serve him a subpoena concerning a lawsuit against banking giant JPMorgan Chase for allegedly enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to three-page court documents filed by the Virgin Islands government, the 50-year-old billionaire Google executive "is a high-net-worth individual who Epstein may have referred or attempted to refer to JPMorgan".&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Virgin Islands stated that it had been unable to locate Page, who co-founded and co-owns Alphabet Inc, despite good faith attempts, which included hiring an investigative firm to search public record databases.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“Our process server attempted service at the addresses identified by our investigative firm, but discovered the addresses were not valid for Mr. Page,” the documents said.</p>

<p>Having been unable to reach Page, the government is now looking for an alternative. It has requested Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff to allow it to serve Alphabet Inc. as a substitute.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/epsteins-private-islands-sold-to-billionaire-investor-for-60-million-588757"><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;Jeffrey Epstein’s private islands sold to billionaire investor for $60 million&nbsp;</strong></a></p>

<p>Page is known to be a recluse who avoids the public eye. Legal documents accessed by US media have revealed that Page owns four islands and spent most of his time during the pandemic, hiding out on an island in Fiji.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Notably, apart from Page, his fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin, media tycoon Mortimer Zuckerman and Hyatt Hotels Chairman Thomas Pritzker have also been issued subpoenas.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Jeffrey Epstein’s private islands</strong></h2>

<p>The Virgin Islands government sued the banking giant last year in December, alleging that it knew about Epstein's predatory behaviour. It added that the bank turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking for over a decade as Epstein's account and the clients he brought to the bank made him extremely valuable.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Epstein was accused of sexually exploiting dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida between 2002 and 2005.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/private-islands-owned-by-jeffrey-epstein-588779"><strong>WATCH |&nbsp;Private Islands owned by Jeffrey Epstein</strong></a></p>

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<p>However, the majority of his sexual exploits took place on the&nbsp;72-acre Little St. James Island which he purchased&nbsp;in 1998 for $7.95 million. He later bought the 160-acre Great St. James Island for $20 million in 2016.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the allegations against Epstein, it was said that he used to bring girls as young as 11 to the islands with his associates and used to sexually assault them.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;</strong></p>

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The US Virgin Islands government is struggling to locate Google co-founder Larry Page to serve him a subpoena concerning a lawsuit against banking giant JPMorgan Chase for allegedly enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring.

The US Virgin Islands government is struggling to locate Google co-founder Larry Page to serve him a subpoena concerning a lawsuit against banking giant JPMorgan Chase for allegedly enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. According to three-page court documents filed by the Virgin Islands government, the 50-year-old billionaire Google executive "is a high-net-worth individual who Epstein may have referred or attempted to refer to JPMorgan". The Virgin Islands stated that it had been unable to locate Page, who co-founded and co-owns Alphabet Inc, despite good faith attempts, which included hiring an investigative firm to search public record databases. “Our process server attempted service at the addresses identified by our investigative firm, but discovered the addresses were not valid for Mr. Page,” the documents said. Having been unable to reach Page, the government is now looking for an alternative. It has requested Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff to allow it to serve Alphabet Inc. as a substitute. ALSO READ | Jeffrey Epstein’s private islands sold to billionaire investor for $60 million Page is known to be a recluse who avoids the public eye. Legal documents accessed by US media have revealed that Page owns four islands and spent most of his time during the pandemic, hiding out on an island in Fiji. Notably, apart from Page, his fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin, media tycoon Mortimer Zuckerman and Hyatt Hotels Chairman Thomas Pritzker have also been issued subpoenas. Jeffrey Epstein’s private islands The Virgin Islands government sued the banking giant last year in December, alleging that it knew about Epstein's predatory behaviour. It added that the bank turned a blind eye to evidence of human trafficking for over a decade as Epstein's account and the clients he brought to the bank made him extremely valuable. Epstein was accused of sexually exploiting dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida between 2002 and 2005. WATCH | Private Islands owned by Jeffrey Epstein × However, the majority of his sexual exploits took place on the 72-acre Little St. James Island which he purchased in 1998 for $7.95 million. He later bought the 160-acre Great St. James Island for $20 million in 2016. In the allegations against Epstein, it was said that he used to bring girls as young as 11 to the islands with his associates and used to sexually assault them. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Virgin Islands govt unable to subpoena Google's Larry Page in Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit

<p>Google and Meta's executives told Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday that the tech giants would take back access to news articles in Canada if the legislation that compels internet companies to pay money to the news publishers gets a green light.</p>

<p>The proposed legislation, which is part of a broader global trend to make tech firms pay for news, would force platforms like Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc and Google parent Alphabet Inc to negotiate commercial deals and pay Canadian news publishers for their content.</p>

<p>Google's Vice President of News, Richard Gingras, said in testimony to a Senate committee that if this bill is passed, the company may be coerced to withdraw links to news articles found in Canadian search results. He further cited an "uncapped financial liability" if it had to pay publishers for linking to their sites.</p>

<p>Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta in Canada, said that if the bill is passed, Meta would also put an end to the availability of news content in the country.</p>

<p>The bill, introduced in April 2022 by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, is the latest legislation aiming to make digital media platforms pay for linking news content.</p>

<p>"All we're asking the tech giants like Facebook and Google to do is negotiate fair deals with news outlets when they profit from their work," Heritage Ministry spokesperson Laura Scaffidi said.</p>

<h2><strong>'Google carrying out tests blocking news content for some users in Canada a terrible mistake': Trudeau&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>Google, earlier this year, tested blocking some Canadian users' access to news as a potential response to the legislation.</p>

<p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called this move a 'terrible mistake'. He said the blocking of news in Canada was an issue "bothering" him.</p>

<p>"It really surprises me that Google has decided that they'd rather prevent Canadians from accessing news than actually paying journalists for the work they do," he said.</p>

<p>"I think that's a terrible mistake and I know Canadians expect journalists to be well paid for the work they do.”</p>

<h2><strong>Australia's ground-breaking law made Facebook and Google pay for news</strong></h2>

<p>Canada's proposal is similar to a trailblazing law passed by Australia in the year 2021 after which Google and Facebook had threatened to withdraw their services but eventually, struck a deal with Australian media companies after amendments to the legislation were offered. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p>

<p>As per a government report the law has largely worked.</p>

<p>The Treasury Department report said that since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, the tech firms had inked more than 30 deals with media outlets compensating them for the content which generated clicks and advertising dollars.</p>

<p>"At least some of these agreements have enabled news businesses to, in particular, employ additional journalists and make other valuable investments to assist their operations," said the report.</p>

<p>"While views on the success or otherwise of the Code will invariably differ, we consider it is reasonable to conclude that the Code has been a success to date."</p>

<p>"The review shows the Code has been successful in balancing bargaining power between news media and digital platforms," said Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones.</p>

<p>"Digital platforms must continue to negotiate in good faith with news businesses to ensure they are fairly remunerated for the news content they create."</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe></p>


Google and Meta's executives told Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday that the tech giants would take back access to news articles in Canada if the legislation that compels internet companies to pay money to the news publishers gets a green light.

Google and Meta's executives told Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday that the tech giants would take back access to news articles in Canada if the legislation that compels internet companies to pay money to the news publishers gets a green light. The proposed legislation, which is part of a broader global trend to make tech firms pay for news, would force platforms like Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc and Google parent Alphabet Inc to negotiate commercial deals and pay Canadian news publishers for their content. Google's Vice President of News, Richard Gingras, said in testimony to a Senate committee that if this bill is passed, the company may be coerced to withdraw links to news articles found in Canadian search results. He further cited an "uncapped financial liability" if it had to pay publishers for linking to their sites. Rachel Curran, head of public policy for Meta in Canada, said that if the bill is passed, Meta would also put an end to the availability of news content in the country. The bill, introduced in April 2022 by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, is the latest legislation aiming to make digital media platforms pay for linking news content. "All we're asking the tech giants like Facebook and Google to do is negotiate fair deals with news outlets when they profit from their work," Heritage Ministry spokesperson Laura Scaffidi said. 'Google carrying out tests blocking news content for some users in Canada a terrible mistake': Trudeau Google, earlier this year, tested blocking some Canadian users' access to news as a potential response to the legislation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called this move a 'terrible mistake'. He said the blocking of news in Canada was an issue "bothering" him. "It really surprises me that Google has decided that they'd rather prevent Canadians from accessing news than actually paying journalists for the work they do," he said. "I think that's a terrible mistake and I know Canadians expect journalists to be well paid for the work they do.” Australia's ground-breaking law made Facebook and Google pay for news Canada's proposal is similar to a trailblazing law passed by Australia in the year 2021 after which Google and Facebook had threatened to withdraw their services but eventually, struck a deal with Australian media companies after amendments to the legislation were offered. As per a government report the law has largely worked. The Treasury Department report said that since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, the tech firms had inked more than 30 deals with media outlets compensating them for the content which generated clicks and advertising dollars. "At least some of these agreements have enabled news businesses to, in particular, employ additional journalists and make other valuable investments to assist their operations," said the report. "While views on the success or otherwise of the Code will invariably differ, we consider it is reasonable to conclude that the Code has been a success to date." "The review shows the Code has been successful in balancing bargaining power between news media and digital platforms," said Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones. "Digital platforms must continue to negotiate in good faith with news businesses to ensure they are fairly remunerated for the news content they create." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Google, Meta threaten to withdraw news access if Online News Act becomes law

<p>Geoffrey Hinton, who has often been called the “Godfather of AI”, on Monday (May 1) confirmed that he quit his role at Google last week and spoke about the “dangers” of artificial intelligence, the technology he helped develop. This comes after Hinton had been working part-time at the tech giant between its headquarters in Silicon Valley and Toronto, Canada.&nbsp;He said that "right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be".&nbsp;</p>

<p>In an interview with the New York Times, Hinton, who along with two of his graduate students at the University of Toronto created technology that became the intellectual foundation for AI systems, has now officially joined a growing number of critics warning about the risks of AI. He also admitted that a part of him now regrets his life’s work.</p>

<p>“I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have,” Hinton told the New York Times. He also spoke about how he thought he had more time to talk about the potential threat of AI and said it is coming sooner than expected. “I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away,” adding, “Obviously, I no longer think that.”</p>

<p>After the interview, he also took to Twitter to clarify that he left Google so he could speak freely about the risks of AI, as opposed to because he wanted to criticise the tech giant specifically.</p>

<p>“I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly,” said Hinton.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">In the NYT today, Cade Metz implies that I left Google so that I could criticize Google. Actually, I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly.</p>
— Geoffrey Hinton (@geoffreyhinton) <a href="https://twitter.com/geoffreyhinton/status/1652993570721210372?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<p>However, this is not the first time that Hinton is expressing his concern over AI. In a previous interview with CBS, back in March, he was asked what he thinks the “chances are of AI just wiping out humanity,” to which he responded, “It’s not inconceivable. That’s all I’ll say,” as quoted by CNBC.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>In March, after OpenAI released a new version of ChatGPT more than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers signed an open letter calling for a six-month suspension, citing the “profound risks to society and humanity” that AI poses.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This comes as&nbsp;Google created its own chatbot, Bard, a few months later. In a statement provided to CNN, Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean said, “We remain committed to a responsible approach to AI. We’re continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly.”</p>

<p>It was not limited to them, as people across the spectrum, and a growing number of lawmakers, advocacy groups and even tech insiders have been sounding alarms over AI-powered chatbots spreading misinformation and potentially displacing jobs.<br />
<br />
Similar concerns were echoed by Hinton during his interview with the NYT when he said AI does have the potential to eliminate jobs.&nbsp;He also expressed immediate worries&nbsp;about the internet being flooded with false photos, videos and text, to a point where an average person will “not be able to know what is true anymore.”<br />
&nbsp;</p>

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Geoffrey Hinton, who has often been called the “Godfather of AI”, on Monday (May 1) confirmed that he quit his role at Google last week and spoke about the “dangers” of artificial intelligence, the technology he helped develop.

Geoffrey Hinton, who has often been called the “Godfather of AI”, on Monday (May 1) confirmed that he quit his role at Google last week and spoke about the “dangers” of artificial intelligence, the technology he helped develop. This comes after Hinton had been working part-time at the tech giant between its headquarters in Silicon Valley and Toronto, Canada. He said that "right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be". In an interview with the New York Times, Hinton, who along with two of his graduate students at the University of Toronto created technology that became the intellectual foundation for AI systems, has now officially joined a growing number of critics warning about the risks of AI. He also admitted that a part of him now regrets his life’s work. “I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have,” Hinton told the New York Times. He also spoke about how he thought he had more time to talk about the potential threat of AI and said it is coming sooner than expected. “I thought it was 30 to 50 years or even longer away,” adding, “Obviously, I no longer think that.” After the interview, he also took to Twitter to clarify that he left Google so he could speak freely about the risks of AI, as opposed to because he wanted to criticise the tech giant specifically. “I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly,” said Hinton. In the NYT today, Cade Metz implies that I left Google so that I could criticize Google. Actually, I left so that I could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how this impacts Google. Google has acted very responsibly. — Geoffrey Hinton (@geoffreyhinton) May 1, 2023 × However, this is not the first time that Hinton is expressing his concern over AI. In a previous interview with CBS, back in March, he was asked what he thinks the “chances are of AI just wiping out humanity,” to which he responded, “It’s not inconceivable. That’s all I’ll say,” as quoted by CNBC. In March, after OpenAI released a new version of ChatGPT more than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers signed an open letter calling for a six-month suspension, citing the “profound risks to society and humanity” that AI poses. This comes as Google created its own chatbot, Bard, a few months later. In a statement provided to CNN, Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean said, “We remain committed to a responsible approach to AI. We’re continually learning to understand emerging risks while also innovating boldly.” It was not limited to them, as people across the spectrum, and a growing number of lawmakers, advocacy groups and even tech insiders have been sounding alarms over AI-powered chatbots spreading misinformation and potentially displacing jobs. Similar concerns were echoed by Hinton during his interview with the NYT when he said AI does have the potential to eliminate jobs. He also expressed immediate worries about the internet being flooded with false photos, videos and text, to a point where an average person will “not be able to know what is true anymore.” WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Godfather of AI' quits Google, says chatbots may become 'more intelligent than us'

<p>Google, intensifying the race of AI among the tech giants, announced that it will be incorporating a conversational AI chat in its search engine.</p>

<p>In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company's search engine will be supercharged with the recent advances made in conversational AI.</p>

<p>Pichai's comments come at a time when tech giants like Microsoft, Meta and others are scrambling to incorporate AI technologies into their services and products.</p>

<p>“Will people be able to ask questions to Google and engage with large language models (LLMs) in the context of search? Absolutely,” said Pichai, while speaking to the news outlet.</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |</strong> <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/no-more-free-food-and-laundry-google-ends-employee-perks-in-new-cost-cutting-measures-578214">'No more free food and laundry': Google ends employee perks in new cost-cutting measures</a></p>

<p>Pichai further dismissed reports that suggested the development of chatbots is threatening the existence of the search giant.</p>

<p>“The opportunity space, if anything, is bigger than before,” said Pichai, who also heads Google's parent company Alphabet Inc.</p>

<p>The Alphabet has been developing large language models (LLMs) which can process and respond to prompts in known language with human-like answers.</p>

<p>The company, however, has till now not been able to integrate the technology into its search which accounts for more than half of the revenue that the company generates.</p>

<p>Vague hints were dropped by Google in March about its plan to integrate AI technology into its search engines, however, no information was specified on its timeline. The announcement was made when Google launched “Bard”&nbsp;— its own version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.</p>

<p>Millions of dollars were pumped into AI powerhouse OpenAI by tech giant&nbsp;Microsoft a few weeks ago, after which ChatGPT was integrated into its Bing search engine. This development gave Microsoft's search engine an edge over Google search which is still following the conventional search approach.</p>

<p>As it continues to face heat from its rival Microsoft after the integration of ChatGPT in Bing, investors have also been pressurising Google to cut costs. Recently, Google announced that it would be laying off 12,000 employees, which comprises 6 per cent of its workforce.</p>

<p><strong>WATCH | Google set to undertake cost-cutting measures for its flight pilot programme in US</strong></p>

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<p>“We are definitely being focused on creating durable savings. We are pleased with the progress, but there is more work left to do,” Pichai said.</p>

<p>Google is battling strong competition as well as grappling with recession and increasing inflation at the same time.</p>

<p>The latest comments made by Pichai will work as a breather for the search giant. However, it will be interesting to see how LLMs are integrated by Google into its search engine to distinguish itself from its competition.&nbsp;<br />
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Google, intensifying the race of AI among the tech giants, announced that it will be incorporating a conversational AI chat in its search engine. In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company's search engine will be supercharged with the recent advances made in conversational AI.

Google, intensifying the race of AI among the tech giants, announced that it will be incorporating a conversational AI chat in its search engine. In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company's search engine will be supercharged with the recent advances made in conversational AI. Pichai's comments come at a time when tech giants like Microsoft, Meta and others are scrambling to incorporate AI technologies into their services and products. “Will people be able to ask questions to Google and engage with large language models (LLMs) in the context of search? Absolutely,” said Pichai, while speaking to the news outlet. ALSO READ | 'No more free food and laundry': Google ends employee perks in new cost-cutting measures Pichai further dismissed reports that suggested the development of chatbots is threatening the existence of the search giant. “The opportunity space, if anything, is bigger than before,” said Pichai, who also heads Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. The Alphabet has been developing large language models (LLMs) which can process and respond to prompts in known language with human-like answers. The company, however, has till now not been able to integrate the technology into its search which accounts for more than half of the revenue that the company generates. Vague hints were dropped by Google in March about its plan to integrate AI technology into its search engines, however, no information was specified on its timeline. The announcement was made when Google launched “Bard” — its own version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Millions of dollars were pumped into AI powerhouse OpenAI by tech giant Microsoft a few weeks ago, after which ChatGPT was integrated into its Bing search engine. This development gave Microsoft's search engine an edge over Google search which is still following the conventional search approach. As it continues to face heat from its rival Microsoft after the integration of ChatGPT in Bing, investors have also been pressurising Google to cut costs. Recently, Google announced that it would be laying off 12,000 employees, which comprises 6 per cent of its workforce. WATCH | Google set to undertake cost-cutting measures for its flight pilot programme in US “We are definitely being focused on creating durable savings. We are pleased with the progress, but there is more work left to do,” Pichai said. Google is battling strong competition as well as grappling with recession and increasing inflation at the same time. The latest comments made by Pichai will work as a breather for the search giant. However, it will be interesting to see how LLMs are integrated by Google into its search engine to distinguish itself from its competition. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Google search to soon incorporate AI chat, says Sundar Pichai

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<p>Alphabet-owned Google has suspended hundreds of loan apps in Kenya providing unsecured personal or business loans. The apps had been taken down after failing to comply with Google's new policy requiring digital lenders to submit proof of licence, according to a TechCrunch report.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is unclear how many apps have been booted out but expert estimates suggest that the ballpark figure could be around 500 with popular apps like MoKash and Okash receiving the axe. Up until last month, over 600 apps were active on the Play Store but that number has come down to under 200 as of Friday (March 24).&nbsp;</p>

<p>After Kenya's central bank issued regulations for Digital Credit Providers (DCPs) last year, the US-based tech giant also published its new policy in January, requiring credit-providing applications to obtain licences from the top bank.&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to reports, only 22 digital creditors such as Tala, Pezesha and Jumo had managed to get the licence from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) till January.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/googles-shared-dip-after-ai-chatbot-bard-flubs-answer-in-new-ad-heres-what-happened-560132"><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;$100 bn wiped off Alphabet's shares after Google AI chatbot 'Bard' flubs answer</strong></a></p>

<p>The regulations state that any digital lender that is yet to get a licence from CBK can receive an interim approval for Google which is only valid for 45 days. Once the period&nbsp;lapses, the company should either have received the approval or file a declaration that its permit was still pending.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, if the company failed to do so, its interim approval will be rescinded and it will be removed from the app store.&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/tech-giants-compete-for-best-in-ai-559482"><strong>WATCH |&nbsp;Tech giants compete for best in AI</strong></a></p>

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<p>The unregulated loan app business has been booming across most countries. However, the exorbitant interest rates and predatory practices employed by the companies to exact the loan amount has tarnished the reputation of the particular digital sector.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Google has been steadily moving to curb the menace of digital loan apps. It banned over 2,000 loan apps in India last year by citing violation of norms, misrepresentation of information and questionable offline behaviour as the reason.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em><br />
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Alphabet-owned Google has suspended hundreds of loan apps in Kenya providing unsecured personal or business loans. The apps had been taken down after failing to comply with Google's new policy requiring digital lenders to submit proof of licence, according to a TechCrunch report.

Alphabet-owned Google has suspended hundreds of loan apps in Kenya providing unsecured personal or business loans. The apps had been taken down after failing to comply with Google's new policy requiring digital lenders to submit proof of licence, according to a TechCrunch report. It is unclear how many apps have been booted out but expert estimates suggest that the ballpark figure could be around 500 with popular apps like MoKash and Okash receiving the axe. Up until last month, over 600 apps were active on the Play Store but that number has come down to under 200 as of Friday (March 24). After Kenya's central bank issued regulations for Digital Credit Providers (DCPs) last year, the US-based tech giant also published its new policy in January, requiring credit-providing applications to obtain licences from the top bank. According to reports, only 22 digital creditors such as Tala, Pezesha and Jumo had managed to get the licence from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) till January. ALSO READ | $100 bn wiped off Alphabet's shares after Google AI chatbot 'Bard' flubs answer The regulations state that any digital lender that is yet to get a licence from CBK can receive an interim approval for Google which is only valid for 45 days. Once the period lapses, the company should either have received the approval or file a declaration that its permit was still pending. However, if the company failed to do so, its interim approval will be rescinded and it will be removed from the app store. WATCH | Tech giants compete for best in AI × The unregulated loan app business has been booming across most countries. However, the exorbitant interest rates and predatory practices employed by the companies to exact the loan amount has tarnished the reputation of the particular digital sector. Google has been steadily moving to curb the menace of digital loan apps. It banned over 2,000 loan apps in India last year by citing violation of norms, misrepresentation of information and questionable offline behaviour as the reason. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Google cracks down on loan apps, removes hundreds from Play Store in Kenya

<p>Google’s Bard chatbot, described as an “experimental conversational AI service,” was launched for users in the US and the UK on Tuesday (March 21). The Alphabet Inc-owned tech giant had originally announced Bard last month and said last week that it would integrate generative AI features across the apps in its Workspace productivity suite.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Bard has been designed to respond to written prompts using information sourced from websites and has also been seen as Google’s bid to compete with the viral ChatGPT. While the Google AI is still an “early experiment” the company was “extremely excited…watching how people are using this product in a way that’s boosting their creativity,” said Google employee and product lead for Bard, Jack Krawczyk, as per the Guardian.</p>

<p>“You can use Bard to boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity. You might ask Bard to give you tips to reach your goal of reading more books this year, explain quantum physics in simple terms or spark your creativity by outlining a blog post,” said Google VP of product Sissie Hsiao and VP of research Eli Collins, in a blog post on Tuesday.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/google-bard-vs-chatgpt-which-is-better-ai-tool-know-how-to-access-google-chatbot-all-you-need-to-know-559622">Google Bard vs ChatGPT: Which is better AI tool? Know how to access Google chatbot, all you need to know</a></strong><br />
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It added, “We’ve learned a lot so far by testing Bard, and the next critical step in improving it is to get feedback from more people.”</p>

<p>Based on Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Application or LaMDA, Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had said previously.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the recent blog post, the VPs also noted that since Bard is powered by a research large language model (LLM), “a lightweight and optimized version” of LaMDA, it gets things wrong sometimes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It added, “because they learn from a wide range of information that reflects real-world biases and stereotypes, those sometimes show up in their outputs…can provide inaccurate, misleading or false information while presenting it confidently.”&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/googles-shared-dip-after-ai-chatbot-bard-flubs-answer-in-new-ad-heres-what-happened-560132">$100 bn wiped off Alphabet's shares after Google AI chatbot 'Bard' flubs answer</a></strong></p>

<p>Therefore, a screenshot of the chatbot shared by Google also shows that the users are first presented with a blank chat box with a disclaimer which reads, “Bard may display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Google’s views.”</p>

<p>This also comes after shares of Google’s parent company plunged by at least eight per cent and it lost more than $100 billion in market value on February 8 when Bard had flubbed an answer when it was first introduced. Google has also previously explained that Bard would work particularly well for “NORA” queries which mean questions which have “no one right answer”.&nbsp;<br />
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Google’s Bard chatbot, described as an “experimental conversational AI service,” was launched for users in the US and the UK on Tuesday (March 21). The Alphabet Inc-owned tech giant had originally announced Bard last month and said last week that it would integrate generative AI features across the apps in its Workspace productivity suite.

Google’s Bard chatbot, described as an “experimental conversational AI service,” was launched for users in the US and the UK on Tuesday (March 21). The Alphabet Inc-owned tech giant had originally announced Bard last month and said last week that it would integrate generative AI features across the apps in its Workspace productivity suite. Bard has been designed to respond to written prompts using information sourced from websites and has also been seen as Google’s bid to compete with the viral ChatGPT. While the Google AI is still an “early experiment” the company was “extremely excited…watching how people are using this product in a way that’s boosting their creativity,” said Google employee and product lead for Bard, Jack Krawczyk, as per the Guardian. “You can use Bard to boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity. You might ask Bard to give you tips to reach your goal of reading more books this year, explain quantum physics in simple terms or spark your creativity by outlining a blog post,” said Google VP of product Sissie Hsiao and VP of research Eli Collins, in a blog post on Tuesday. ALSO READ | Google Bard vs ChatGPT: Which is better AI tool? Know how to access Google chatbot, all you need to know It added, “We’ve learned a lot so far by testing Bard, and the next critical step in improving it is to get feedback from more people.” Based on Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Application or LaMDA, Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had said previously. In the recent blog post, the VPs also noted that since Bard is powered by a research large language model (LLM), “a lightweight and optimized version” of LaMDA, it gets things wrong sometimes. It added, “because they learn from a wide range of information that reflects real-world biases and stereotypes, those sometimes show up in their outputs…can provide inaccurate, misleading or false information while presenting it confidently.” ALSO READ | $100 bn wiped off Alphabet's shares after Google AI chatbot 'Bard' flubs answer Therefore, a screenshot of the chatbot shared by Google also shows that the users are first presented with a blank chat box with a disclaimer which reads, “Bard may display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Google’s views.” This also comes after shares of Google’s parent company plunged by at least eight per cent and it lost more than $100 billion in market value on February 8 when Bard had flubbed an answer when it was first introduced. Google has also previously explained that Bard would work particularly well for “NORA” queries which mean questions which have “no one right answer”. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Google launches its AI chatbot ‘Bard’ for users in US, UK

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<p>ChatGPT is all the rage right now. Microsoft has extended its partnership with its maker OpenAI. Google has joined this chatbot race with its own Bard AI. However, a mistake in the demo caused a loss of approximately $100 billion in Valuation for Alphabet, Google's parent company. ChatGPT showed its capabilities when it passed exams in the disciplines&nbsp;of law and business from prestigious schools in the US. Recently, we also saw it being able to synthesise and succinctly present the data of the long-form report.</p>

<p>The use of AI indeed presents an exciting way the world would function in knowledge collection and presentation. We wondered how AI would affect higher education offered in India, especially in B-schools. So naturally, we posed this question to ChatGPT.</p>

<p>The results we found were far from satisfactory. We recalibrated the question in multiple ways by adding more specific terms. However, it just rehashed the answer in different ways. So, even though it could not specifically say how higher education will change due to it, we expect it to bring about a tangible change in the education sector.</p>

<h2><strong>For teaching</strong></h2>

<p>Rather than thinking of it as a destroyer of education, its capabilities need to be understood, accepted and utilised for the benefit of the students. ChatGPT worked exceptionally well in designing course outlines. We asked it to design a course on investment analysis and portfolio management. It provided us with a pretty comprehensive outline. We then modified the queries to get an outline for the same course for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. It could change the outline per the academic requirements of these different academic levels. It also optimised the course outline when asked to design it per the Indian markets and economy.</p>

<p>The AI was also adept at developing session plans based on any topic. It was also clever to modify the plan when provided with different duration of sessions. It would divide the sessions into different sections and also provide sub-topics to be covered in each section. Interestingly, it would also suggest using cases in some of its outputs. We pushed it a bit further and prompted it to provide us with a case on a select topic. It provided the financial details of a firm and suggested some of the analyses that the students could use. It also provided us with a similar case in the Indian context. The AI is also good at providing assignment questions and rubrics to assess them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>AI can help educators in reducing time spent on mundane tasks. It can help the educators in spending more time in preparation for the session and finding interesting tools to assist them in helping students to learn the concepts. AI also opens up the possibilities for schools and colleges in the interiors of the country to have a more rounded view of the topics generally taught in the more prominent institutions. It can help educators in those colleges to develop better course materials and assignment questions for their courses.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-chatgpt-explained-how-does-the-platform-work-553272"><strong>WATCH | Gravitas | ChatGPT Explained: How does the platform work?</strong></a></p>

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<h2><strong>For assessing</strong></h2>

<p>AI can also change the way students are assessed in a massive way. When in school, teachers ask students to do mathematical operations without the help of calculators, as those will not be available in the real world. We know that is far from the truth. In higher education, especially in MBA schools, open book exams are regularly conducted, allowing students to take help from books and notes and maybe internet resources in writing their answers.</p>

<p>It removes the requirement for students to rote facts and figures and assess them on their conceptual understanding of a topic or practical approach towards a business problem. AI is just another item in the long list of tools that can help students answer questions. So, the questions need to have greater intricacies and nuances that would need a human factor in answering those questions.</p>

<p>AI can help the students process a large volume of information concisely, and that information can be used as a foundation to arrive at the answer by the students. It will become ubiquitous in the times to come and better with each passing query. The educators would do well to incorporate its utility in their teaching and assessment plans.</p>

<p>However,&nbsp;<em>caveat emptor</em>&nbsp;is something students should keep in mind when using this. There have been numerous reports where AI has given incorrect answers and made up data and references to answer those queries. So, while it would help the students compress the text and the data they need to read to understand the problem, it would still require them to use their minds to filter out incorrect information to give an appropriate answer to the questions asked.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/a-bit-scared-open-ai-ceo-says-chatgpt-may-wipe-out-current-jobs-573612"><strong>Read more:&nbsp;‘A bit scared’: OpenAI CEO says ChatGPT may wipe out current jobs&nbsp;</strong></a></p>

<p>We understand that new technologies have the power to shape the way we teach in higher education. It is no use policing the use of such tools by the students. It is also of no use to make these utilities taboo for them. AI tools would be available for them in the outside world.</p>

<p>The best we can do is to accept these tools and help the students understand how to use them for their purposes effectively. As students are taught the concepts of finance, marketing, strategy, HR and other subjects to help them in their professional careers, the efficient and effective use of AI will also be a skill that will be needed in the armoury of the B-school students when they graduate.</p>

<p><em>Written with Prof. P. Saravanan of the Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli</em></p>

<p><em><strong>Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.&nbsp;</strong></em></p>

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ChatGPT is all the rage right now. Microsoft has extended its partnership with its maker OpenAI. Google has joined this chatbot race with its own Bard AI. However, a mistake in the demo caused a loss of approximately $100 billion in Valuation for Alphabet, Google's parent company.

ChatGPT is all the rage right now. Microsoft has extended its partnership with its maker OpenAI. Google has joined this chatbot race with its own Bard AI. However, a mistake in the demo caused a loss of approximately $100 billion in Valuation for Alphabet, Google's parent company. ChatGPT showed its capabilities when it passed exams in the disciplines of law and business from prestigious schools in the US. Recently, we also saw it being able to synthesise and succinctly present the data of the long-form report. The use of AI indeed presents an exciting way the world would function in knowledge collection and presentation. We wondered how AI would affect higher education offered in India, especially in B-schools. So naturally, we posed this question to ChatGPT. The results we found were far from satisfactory. We recalibrated the question in multiple ways by adding more specific terms. However, it just rehashed the answer in different ways. So, even though it could not specifically say how higher education will change due to it, we expect it to bring about a tangible change in the education sector. For teaching Rather than thinking of it as a destroyer of education, its capabilities need to be understood, accepted and utilised for the benefit of the students. ChatGPT worked exceptionally well in designing course outlines. We asked it to design a course on investment analysis and portfolio management. It provided us with a pretty comprehensive outline. We then modified the queries to get an outline for the same course for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. It could change the outline per the academic requirements of these different academic levels. It also optimised the course outline when asked to design it per the Indian markets and economy. The AI was also adept at developing session plans based on any topic. It was also clever to modify the plan when provided with different duration of sessions. It would divide the sessions into different sections and also provide sub-topics to be covered in each section. Interestingly, it would also suggest using cases in some of its outputs. We pushed it a bit further and prompted it to provide us with a case on a select topic. It provided the financial details of a firm and suggested some of the analyses that the students could use. It also provided us with a similar case in the Indian context. The AI is also good at providing assignment questions and rubrics to assess them. AI can help educators in reducing time spent on mundane tasks. It can help the educators in spending more time in preparation for the session and finding interesting tools to assist them in helping students to learn the concepts. AI also opens up the possibilities for schools and colleges in the interiors of the country to have a more rounded view of the topics generally taught in the more prominent institutions. It can help educators in those colleges to develop better course materials and assignment questions for their courses. WATCH | Gravitas | ChatGPT Explained: How does the platform work? × For assessing AI can also change the way students are assessed in a massive way. When in school, teachers ask students to do mathematical operations without the help of calculators, as those will not be available in the real world. We know that is far from the truth. In higher education, especially in MBA schools, open book exams are regularly conducted, allowing students to take help from books and notes and maybe internet resources in writing their answers. It removes the requirement for students to rote facts and figures and assess them on their conceptual understanding of a topic or practical approach towards a business problem. AI is just another item in the long list of tools that can help students answer questions. So, the questions need to have greater intricacies and nuances that would need a human factor in answering those questions. AI can help the students process a large volume of information concisely, and that information can be used as a foundation to arrive at the answer by the students. It will become ubiquitous in the times to come and better with each passing query. The educators would do well to incorporate its utility in their teaching and assessment plans. However, caveat emptor is something students should keep in mind when using this. There have been numerous reports where AI has given incorrect answers and made up data and references to answer those queries. So, while it would help the students compress the text and the data they need to read to understand the problem, it would still require them to use their minds to filter out incorrect information to give an appropriate answer to the questions asked. Read more: ‘A bit scared’: OpenAI CEO says ChatGPT may wipe out current jobs We understand that new technologies have the power to shape the way we teach in higher education. It is no use policing the use of such tools by the students. It is also of no use to make these utilities taboo for them. AI tools would be available for them in the outside world. The best we can do is to accept these tools and help the students understand how to use them for their purposes effectively. As students are taught the concepts of finance, marketing, strategy, HR and other subjects to help them in their professional careers, the efficient and effective use of AI will also be a skill that will be needed in the armoury of the B-school students when they graduate. Written with Prof. P. Saravanan of the Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer. WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

AI MBA: How Artificial Intelligence will shape business education

<p>The US Justice Department has alleged that Alphabet Inc's Google has destroyed internal corporate communications, thereby destroying important evidence in the antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by the United States. Lawyers for the department have asked a federal judge to sanction the company as part of the American government's antitrust case over Google's search business. As per a Reuters report, the DOJ on Thursday asserted that Google failed to suspend a policy in a timely manner, allowing for the automatic and permanent deletion of employees' chat logs.</p>

<p><strong>Watch |&nbsp;Why is the US Department of Justice (DoJ) planning to sue Google again?</strong></p>

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<p>It further alleged that, in 2019, the search engine giant "falsely" told the United States that it had suspended "auto-deletion" and was preserving chat communications. The company allegedly said that it was required to do under a federal court rule governing electronically stored information.</p>

<p>The DOJ has asked the federal court to hold a hearing and appropriately sanction the tech giant.</p>

<p><strong>Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/us-doj-sues-google-over-online-ad-market-domination-lawsuit-seeks-to-level-the-playing-field-for-other-firms-555761">US DOJ sues Google over online ad market domination; seeks to level the playing field for other firms</a></strong></p>

<p>"Google's daily destruction of written records prejudiced the United States by depriving it of a rich source of candid discussions between Google's executives, including likely trial witnesses," wrote DOJ attorney Kenneth Dintzer in the filing.</p>

<p>However, Google in its statement said that it "strongly" refuted the US DOJ's allegations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>"Our teams have conscientiously worked for years to respond to inquiries and litigation," said a Google spokesperson.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/us-justice-department-to-sue-google-for-the-second-time-report-555359">US justice department to sue Google for the second time over market dominance: Report</a></strong></p>

<p>The company also claimed to have produced "over 4 million documents in this case alone, and millions more to regulators around the world."</p>

<p>If Google is found guilty of a violation of court rules as alleged by the DOJ, penalties can include restrictions on what it is allowed to argue at trial, an order striking a court filing or even a monetary penalty.</p>

<p>This sanctions attempt marks the second time that the US government has sought to punish Google.&nbsp;Last year, the DOJ alleged Google unfairly kept internal documents away from antitrust investigators, claiming they were protected by the attorney-client privilege. Google, at the time, had denied the allegation.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

<p><strong>WATCH WION LIVE HERE</strong></p>

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The US Justice Department has alleged that Alphabet Inc's Google has destroyed internal corporate communications, thereby destroying important evidence in the antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by the United States.

The US Justice Department has alleged that Alphabet Inc's Google has destroyed internal corporate communications, thereby destroying important evidence in the antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by the United States. Lawyers for the department have asked a federal judge to sanction the company as part of the American government's antitrust case over Google's search business. As per a Reuters report, the DOJ on Thursday asserted that Google failed to suspend a policy in a timely manner, allowing for the automatic and permanent deletion of employees' chat logs. Watch | Why is the US Department of Justice (DoJ) planning to sue Google again? It further alleged that, in 2019, the search engine giant "falsely" told the United States that it had suspended "auto-deletion" and was preserving chat communications. The company allegedly said that it was required to do under a federal court rule governing electronically stored information. The DOJ has asked the federal court to hold a hearing and appropriately sanction the tech giant. Also read | US DOJ sues Google over online ad market domination; seeks to level the playing field for other firms "Google's daily destruction of written records prejudiced the United States by depriving it of a rich source of candid discussions between Google's executives, including likely trial witnesses," wrote DOJ attorney Kenneth Dintzer in the filing. However, Google in its statement said that it "strongly" refuted the US DOJ's allegations. "Our teams have conscientiously worked for years to respond to inquiries and litigation," said a Google spokesperson. Also read | US justice department to sue Google for the second time over market dominance: Report The company also claimed to have produced "over 4 million documents in this case alone, and millions more to regulators around the world." If Google is found guilty of a violation of court rules as alleged by the DOJ, penalties can include restrictions on what it is allowed to argue at trial, an order striking a court filing or even a monetary penalty. This sanctions attempt marks the second time that the US government has sought to punish Google. Last year, the DOJ alleged Google unfairly kept internal documents away from antitrust investigators, claiming they were protected by the attorney-client privilege. Google, at the time, had denied the allegation. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

US Justice Department accuses Google of destroying evidence in antitrust case

<p>&nbsp;The cloud employees and partners have been asked by Google to share their desks and decide alternate days when they and their desk mates will be in the office from next quarter, &nbsp;citing “real estate efficiency,” CNBC reported.</p>

<p>The new desk-sharing model will be applicable in the five largest US locations of Google Cloud, which are Kirkland, Washington; New York City; San Francisco; Seattle; and Sunnyvale, California and is taking place so that the company “can continue to invest in Cloud’s growth,” as per an internal FAQ recently shared with cloud employees. The document notes that a few buildings will be vacated as a result.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ |</strong> <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/google-carrying-out-tests-thatll-block-news-content-for-some-users-in-canada-565029">Google carrying out tests that'll block news content for some users in Canada</a></p>

<p>“Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler,” stated the internal document, adding that the employees are expected to come to the office on alternate days so that they are not on the same desk on the same day. “Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment," the document read.</p>

<p>The FAQ adds that the employees may come to the office on other days, however, if they turn up on an unassigned day, the employees will use “overflow drop-in space".&nbsp;</p>

<p>Internally, the new leadership has given a title to the new seating arrangement “Cloud Office Evolution” or “CLOE", which refers to “combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility” of hybrid work. "The new workspace plan is not a temporary pilot. This will ultimately lead to more efficient use of our space,” the document said. The FAQ stated that the internal data was used by Google on its employee office return patterns to inform about the decision.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>WATCH | Twitter shuts offices in India to lower costs</strong></p>

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<p>&nbsp;“Since returning to the office, we’ve run pilots and conducted surveys with Cloud employees to explore different hybrid work models and help shape the best experience. Our data show Cloud Googlers value guaranteed in-person collaboration when they are in the office, as well as the option to work from home a few days each week. With this feedback, we’ve developed our new rotational model, combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility and focus we’ve all come to appreciate from remote work, while also allowing us to use our spaces more efficiently," said a Google spokesperson.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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The cloud employees and partners have been asked by Google to share their desks and decide alternate days when they and their desk mates will be in the office from next quarter, citing “real estate efficiency,” CNBC reported.

The cloud employees and partners have been asked by Google to share their desks and decide alternate days when they and their desk mates will be in the office from next quarter, citing “real estate efficiency,” CNBC reported. The new desk-sharing model will be applicable in the five largest US locations of Google Cloud, which are Kirkland, Washington; New York City; San Francisco; Seattle; and Sunnyvale, California and is taking place so that the company “can continue to invest in Cloud’s growth,” as per an internal FAQ recently shared with cloud employees. The document notes that a few buildings will be vacated as a result. ALSO READ | Google carrying out tests that'll block news content for some users in Canada “Most Googlers will now share a desk with one other Googler,” stated the internal document, adding that the employees are expected to come to the office on alternate days so that they are not on the same desk on the same day. “Through the matching process, they will agree on a basic desk setup and establish norms with their desk partner and teams to ensure a positive experience in the new shared environment," the document read. The FAQ adds that the employees may come to the office on other days, however, if they turn up on an unassigned day, the employees will use “overflow drop-in space". Internally, the new leadership has given a title to the new seating arrangement “Cloud Office Evolution” or “CLOE", which refers to “combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility” of hybrid work. "The new workspace plan is not a temporary pilot. This will ultimately lead to more efficient use of our space,” the document said. The FAQ stated that the internal data was used by Google on its employee office return patterns to inform about the decision. WATCH | Twitter shuts offices in India to lower costs “Since returning to the office, we’ve run pilots and conducted surveys with Cloud employees to explore different hybrid work models and help shape the best experience. Our data show Cloud Googlers value guaranteed in-person collaboration when they are in the office, as well as the option to work from home a few days each week. With this feedback, we’ve developed our new rotational model, combining the best of pre-pandemic collaboration with the flexibility and focus we’ve all come to appreciate from remote work, while also allowing us to use our spaces more efficiently," said a Google spokesperson. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Google downsizes office, asks employees to share desks

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