Google and Microsoft have each pledged $1 million to support Donald Trump’s upcoming presidential inauguration, joining other tech giants such as Meta, Amazon, and Apple’s Tim Cook in contributing significant sums. The donations appear to be part of broader strategies by these companies to maintain access to political leadership in a rapidly changing regulatory environment.
Google, which has faced threats from Trump regarding potential break-ups, aims to secure goodwill through financial contributions and online visibility, including a YouTube livestream of the inauguration. Microsoft has also maintained steady political donations, previously giving $500,000 to Trump’s first inauguration as well as to President Joe Biden’s ceremony.
This alignment with Trump marks a notable trend of tech companies seeking to protect their interests, particularly as issues like antitrust regulations and data privacy laws remain in political crosshairs. With both tech giants navigating a landscape of increased government scrutiny, their contributions indicate a cautious approach to preserving influence at the highest levels of power.
These donations reflect a pragmatic move by Silicon Valley, where cultivating political ties is seen as a way to safeguard business operations amid shifting political dynamics.
Google is testing a new feature called “Daily Listen,” which generates personalised AI-powered podcasts based on users’ Discover feeds. The feature, currently rolling out to US users in the Search Labs experiment, provides a five-minute audio summary of topics tailored to individual interests. Each podcast includes links to related stories, allowing listeners to explore subjects in greater depth.
The experience is integrated with Google’s Discover and Search tools, using followed topics to refine content recommendations. Daily Listen functions similarly to NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews, which create AI-generated audio summaries based on shared documents. Users who have access to the feature will see a “Daily Listen” card on their Google app’s home screen, displaying a play button and episode length.
Once launched, the podcast plays alongside a rolling transcript, offering a seamless blend of text and audio. Google aims to enhance how users consume news and stay informed, making the experience more interactive and personalised. The feature reflects the company’s ongoing push into AI-driven content delivery.
Google is merging additional AI teams into its DeepMind division to speed up innovation in AI technologies. Logan Kilpatrick, head of product for Google’s AI Studio, confirmed that both the AI Studio team and the Gemini API developers would now operate under DeepMind.
DeepMind, created in 2023 from the merger of Google Brain and DeepMind, has played a central role in Google’s AI advancements, including the Gemini model series. Kilpatrick stated the restructuring would strengthen collaboration and accelerate progress in making research tools available to developers.
Engineer Jaana Dogan highlighted that the move would make DeepMind’s tools more publicly accessible, with better APIs, open-source contributions, and enhanced developer resources planned. This shift follows earlier integrations of the Gemini chatbot and responsible AI teams into DeepMind as part of Google’s ongoing strategy.
CEO Sundar Pichai previously described Gemini as gaining strong momentum while stressing the need to move faster in 2025 to close competitive gaps. Scaling Gemini for consumers will be a primary focus next year.
Google will face a class action trial in August after failing to dismiss claims it collected personal data from mobile devices despite users disabling tracking settings. A federal judge rejected the argument that the company clearly disclosed how its Web & App Activity settings worked.
Chief Judge Richard Seeborg ruled that reasonable users could find Google’s data collection practices ‘highly offensive’ since data was collected even after concerns were raised internally about unclear disclosures. He noted internal communications indicating Google deliberately kept details vague to avoid alarming users.
Google denied wrongdoing, stating its privacy controls were long established and accusing the plaintiffs of deliberately misrepresenting its products. The plaintiffs’ lawyers, also involved in a $5 billion privacy settlement against Google last year, did not comment.
The trial, scheduled for 18 August, stems from a July 2020 lawsuit. Google previously faced similar claims when accused of tracking users in Chrome’s ‘Incognito’ mode, leading to a substantial data deletion settlement.
Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, has identified 2025 as a pivotal year for the tech giant, urging employees to adopt a sense of urgency during a recent strategy meeting. Speaking alongside executives, Pichai emphasised the high stakes of the moment and the need for Google to accelerate its progress across key areas, particularly AI.
AI remains a central focus for Google as it competes with industry leaders. Pichai highlighted the Gemini AI model’s momentum while admitting work remains to secure a leadership position in AI innovation by 2025. Scaling Gemini’s consumer applications will be a primary objective for the coming year.
Google is navigating a competitive and evolving technological landscape. As the company invests heavily in AI, its leadership is rallying employees to seize opportunities and overcome challenges ahead of what Pichai called a “critical” year for the company’s future.
New research by The Guardian reveals that ChatGPT Search, OpenAI’s recently launched AI-powered search tool, can be misled into generating false or overly positive summaries. By embedding hidden text in web pages, researchers demonstrated that the AI could ignore negative reviews or even produce malicious code.
The feature, designed to streamline browsing by summarising content such as product reviews, is susceptible to hidden text attacks—a well-known vulnerability in large language models. While this issue has been studied before, this marks the first time such manipulation has been proven on a live AI search tool.
OpenAI did not comment on this specific case but stated it employs measures to block malicious websites and is working to improve its defences. Experts note that competitors like Google, with more experience in search technology, have developed stronger safeguards against similar threats.
Google is introducing major updates to its Maps Timeline feature, shifting towards enhanced privacy by storing location history locally on users’ devices. This change means that any unbacked location history data will be automatically deleted after three months unless users take action to save it. Notifications regarding the update will provide a six-month window to back up data, urging users to preserve personal memories or valuable travel records before permanent deletion.
To save Timeline data, users can utilise Google’s export tools on their devices or through the web. This process allows users to maintain access to their past location history while ensuring it remains private and under their control. However, some users have reported unexpected deletions, emphasising the importance of regular backups to avoid data loss.
These updates are part of the US-based tech giant’s broader efforts to address privacy concerns by limiting the storage of sensitive data on its servers. While this move enhances data security, users are encouraged to take proactive steps to back up important information, explore privacy features like incognito mode, and consider additional tools such as VPNs to protect their online activity.
Google has proposed a legal alternative to a United States Department of Justice recommendation to dismantle its Chrome browser. Instead, the company suggests barring itself from using app licensing agreements to secure default software positions.
The proposal follows a landmark ruling declaring Google a monopoly. The government seeks stronger measures, including a ban on exclusive deals ensuring Google’s dominance on smartphones and other devices.
Judge Amit Mehta’s decision on antitrust remedies is expected to influence the tech industry. Google plans to appeal any adverse ruling.
Apple has requested to participate in the US antitrust trial against Google, arguing it cannot trust Google to safeguard their shared revenue agreements. These agreements make Google the default search engine on Apple’s Safari browser, generating an estimated $20 billion for Apple in 2022. Despite this lucrative partnership, Apple confirmed it has no plans to develop its search engine, regardless of the trial’s outcome.
The Department of Justice’s case against Google is a pivotal effort to curb the tech giant’s dominance in online search. Prosecutors allege that Google’s practices stifle competition and may push for drastic measures such as divesting its Chrome browser or Android operating system. Apple, aiming to protect its financial interests, plans to present witnesses in the April trial.
While Google has proposed easing its default agreements with browser developers and device manufacturers, it has resisted ending its ad revenue-sharing deals. Apple criticised Google’s ability to represent its interests as the trial escalated into a broader challenge to Google’s business model. A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the case.
Google contractors improving the Gemini AI model have been tasked with comparing its responses against those of Anthropic’s Claude, according to internal documents reviewed by TechCrunch. The evaluation process involves scoring responses on criteria such as truthfulness and verbosity, with contractors given up to 30 minutes per prompt to determine which model performs better. Notably, some outputs identify themselves as Claude, sparking questions about Google’s use of its competitor’s model.
Claude’s responses, known for emphasising safety, have sometimes refused to answer prompts deemed unsafe, unlike Gemini, which has faced criticism for safety violations. One such instance involved Gemini generating responses flagged for inappropriate content. Despite Google’s significant investment in Anthropic, Claude’s terms of service prohibit its use to train or build competing AI models without prior approval.
A spokesperson for Google DeepMind stated that while the company compares model outputs for evaluation purposes, it does not train Gemini using Anthropic models. Anthropic, however, declined to comment on whether Google had obtained permission to use Claude for these tests. Recent revelations also highlight contractor concerns over Gemini producing potentially inaccurate information on sensitive topics, including healthcare.
