Google has revealed plans to inject an additional $1.1 billion into its data centre campus expansion in Finland, emphasising its commitment to bolstering its AI business growth in Europe. The investment aligns with a broader trend of locating data centres in the Nordic region due to factors like the favourable climate, tax incentives, and abundant renewable energy sources.
While some Nordic countries have become more apprehensive about hosting data centres, Finland’s wind power capacity surge has left ample room for expansion. With a staggering 75% increase in wind power capacity in 2022 alone, Finland boasts a surplus of renewable energy, even witnessing negative pricing on windy days. Google secures its renewable energy needs through long-term contracts in Finland, ensuring sustainable operations for its data centres.
Why does it matter?
The exponential rise in AI usage is anticipated to drive a global power consumption surge for data centres. Google’s investment decision in Finland underscores its recognition of this trend, alongside its commitment to sustainability. Notably, Google’s Hamina data centre in Finland already operates with 97% carbon-free energy, with excess heat being redirected to the district heating network, benefiting local communities.
The investment is part of Google’s broader strategy to expand its data centre footprint in Europe, with recent announcements about new data centre constructions in the Netherlands and Belgium. Google’s ambitious sustainability goals aim for net-zero emissions across its operations and value chain by 2030, reflecting its proactive approach towards environmental responsibility and technological advancement.
Google’s deployment of AI to condense search results is causing publishers’ concern about potential website traffic declines. The update to Google’s search engine, recently announced, will introduce AI-generated summaries of online queries in the US, with plans to expand globally. The implementation of AI in Google browsers could diminish the significance of links and web pages for over a billion users, potentially reducing audiences for bloggers, news outlets, and other online content creators who rely on Google referrals.
The AI-generated summaries, produced by Google’s Gemini technology, will offer concise insights from various online sources with minimal links. Google claims the change will encourage users to explore a wider range of websites, but critics, including Marketing AI Institute CEO Paul Roetzer, anticipate negative impacts on publishers and advertisers. With little information Google provides about the implications for these stakeholders, uncertainty looms over the future of online visibility and revenue generation.
Jeff Jarvis, a professor at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, suggests that news organisations with credible information could benefit from partnerships with AI giants. However, the advertising industry faces uncertainties, with Semasio CEO Jeff Ragovin warning of potential revenue losses and the need for better-targeted ads amidst the AI-driven search landscape.
Google has requested a non-jury trial in response to the US Justice Department’s lawsuit accusing the tech giant of anticompetitive practices in the online advertising market. The Justice Department, which filed the lawsuit in January 2023, claims Google has abused its dominance in digital advertising and should be forced to divest its ad manager suite.
Tech giant argues that the Justice Department’s request for a jury trial deviates from historical precedent, emphasising the complex technical nature of the case, which it believes would be challenging for a jury to understand. The Justice Department has not yet commented on Google’s filing.
Google’s online advertising network, including the ad manager, accounted for 12% of its revenue in 2021 and is integral to its overall sales, including its search engine and cloud services. Google contends that the Justice Department’s case exceeds the boundaries of antitrust law, asserting that these laws do not regulate the alleged conduct.
The Delhi High Court has directed Google and Microsoft to file a review petition seeking the recall of a previous order mandating search engines to promptly restrict access to non-consensual intimate images (NCII) without necessitating victims to provide specific URLs repeatedly. Both tech giants argued the technological infeasibility of identifying and proactively taking down NCII images, even with the assistance of AI tools.
The court’s order stems from a 2023 ruling requiring search engines to remove NCII within 24 hours, as per the IT Rules, 2021, or risk losing their safe harbour protections under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. It proposed issuing a unique token upon initial takedown, with search engines responsible for turning off any resurfaced content using pre-existing technology to alleviate the burden on victims of tracking and repeatedly reporting specific URLs. Moreover, the court suggested leveraging hash-matching technology and developing a ‘trusted third-party encrypted platform’ for victims to register NCII content or URLs, shifting the responsibility of identifying and removing resurfaced content away from victims and onto the platform while ensuring utmost transparency and accountability standards.
However, Google expressed concerns regarding automated tools’ inability to discern consent in shared sexual content, potentially leading to unintended takedowns and infringing on free speech, echoing Microsoft’s apprehension about the implications of proactive monitoring on privacy and freedom of expression.
OpenAI is gearing up to unveil its AI-powered search product, intensifying its rivalry with Google in the realm of search technology. The announcement, slated for Monday, comes amidst reports of OpenAI’s efforts to challenge Google’s dominance and compete with emerging players like Perplexity in the AI search space. While OpenAI has remained tight-lipped about the development, industry insiders anticipate a big step in the AI search landscape.
The timing of the announcement, just ahead of Google’s annual I/O conference, suggests OpenAI’s strategic positioning to capture attention in the tech world. Building on its flagship ChatGPT product, the new search offering promises to revolutionise information retrieval by leveraging AI to extract direct information from the web, complete with citations.
Why does it matter?
Despite ChatGPT’s initial success, OpenAI has faced challenges sustaining user growth and relevance during the chatbot’s evolution. The retirement of ChatGPT plugins in April indicates the company’s engagement to refine its offerings and adapt to user needs.
As OpenAI aims to expand its reach and enhance its product capabilities, the launch of its AI search product marks a breakthrough in its quest to redefine information access and reshape the future of AI-driven technologies.
Microsoft Corp. and Google owner Alphabet Inc. impressed investors surpassing Wall Street expectations with robust quarterly results driven by AI and cloud computing. The surge in cloud revenue, fueled partly by the increasing use of AI services, propelled both companies’ shares higher in late trading, with Alphabet soaring up to 17% and Microsoft gaining 6.3%.
The tech giants are in a fierce competition for AI dominance, with Microsoft partnering with startup OpenAI to challenge Google’s longstanding dominance in internet search. Yet, the latest results indicate significant growth opportunities for both companies in the AI and cloud computing landscape.
Also, 2024 is hailed as the year of generative AI deployment, a technology that creates text, images, and videos from simple prompts. Executives from Alphabet and Microsoft highlighted how these programs drive business growth for their cloud computing units, with corporate clients increasingly investing in long-term cloud infrastructure.
Why does it matter?
Google’s cloud operation, which once lagged behind competitors, is now thriving, posting a significant profit and attracting enterprise clients. Despite setbacks in the consumer market, Google Cloud’s AI offerings have gained traction among corporate customers, driving substantial revenue growth.
Similarly, Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform saw a 31% sales increase, surpassing analyst expectations. Integrating AI technology across Microsoft’s product line, mainly through its partnership with OpenAI, is successfully driving customer adoption and revenue growth. With promising uptake for AI tools and services, both companies are optimistic about the future of AI-driven solutions in cloud computing.
President Tsai Ing-wen recently inaugurated Google’s second R&D office in Taiwan. Google is intensifying its commitment to its device ecosystem by expanding its hardware R&D hub in Taiwan. The company already has data centers on the island and routes several of its undersea cables that connect the US and Asia through Taiwan.
In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Elmer Peng, vice president of hardware at Google, stated, “As of 2024, we’ve increased 20-fold the workforce in the past ten years in Taiwan, and our team continues to grow. …We are really serious about building an ecosystem”. By bolstering its hardware development resources in Taiwan, Google seeks to leverage the island’s supply chain and skilled workforce.
Presently, Google already has a multinational team numbering in the thousands, tasked with the development of various products, including Pixel phones, Fitbit wearables, and Nest smart home devices. It is actively collaborating with component manufacturers for its next generation of device development, including semiconductors, image sensors, and displays. By expanding its hardware lineup, Google seeks to secure more users into its environment.
Why is this important?
Taiwan being the home to the largest Google hardware R&D center outside the US, underscores its significance in the global supply chain, enabled by its solid industrial growth and resilient supply chains amid the pandemic.
Google announced that it will update its policies to stop allowing political ads in Brazil through Google Ads, including YouTube, to display alongside search results and other types of advertisements contracted through the company’s tool. This update, set to take effect in May, aligns with the implementation of electoral resolutions for 2024.
One notable development is the resolution passed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) in late February, which requires establishing ad libraries and repositories for political and electoral content on platforms for real-time monitoring. This resolution also bars companies from providing content promotion services for ads that are notably false or severely misleading, thus posing a potential threat to the integrity of the electoral process.
In this regard, the resolution states that when such content has been promoted ‘irregularly,’ the Electoral Court may require platforms to disseminate, ‘through promotion and at no cost,’ informative content that clarifies notably false information ‘in the same manner and scope of the original promotion.’ Such measures are to be enforced continuously, even in non-election years and pre and post-election periods.
In 2022, Google introduced Brazil to its transparency reports on political ads across its platforms, initially focusing on federal-level candidates and later expanding to include state-level candidates. However, with the new TSE resolution, the scope broadens to include elected officials, candidates, government proposals, legislative projects, voting rights, and other political matters.
Why does it matter?
The TSE resolutions represent concrete measures against a long-standing concern in Brazil regarding the role of social media platforms in the country’s political landscape. While Google appears willing to comply with government measures, not all platforms share this stance, particularly X. Tensions peaked recently when Elon Musk engaged directly in a dispute with Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is investigating digital misinformation and an alleged coup attempt during former President Jair Bolsonaro’s tenure. Musk claimed that Moraes’s decision to block specific accounts was unconstitutional.
An AI venture backed by Google is teaming up with the US military to harness AI for disaster response. Bellwether, part of Alphabet’s X innovation hub, announced its collaboration with the National Guard and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to streamline the Guard’s disaster response processes. The initiative aims to leverage AI and machine learning to rapidly analyse aerial imagery of disaster scenes, identifying damage to critical infrastructure to aid in resource deployment.
Traditionally, the National Guard conducts damage assessments manually, which can lead to delays in the initial response due to the time required for analysis. Bellwether’s prototype utilises AI and ML to analyse disaster-affected areas in seconds, providing labelled maps of affected areas. This technology enables quicker decision-making regarding resource allocation for disaster response teams.
Colonel Brian McGarry, leading the National Guard’s operations division, emphasised the significance of AI in expediting critical information delivery during disasters. By automating routine tasks like image analysis and labelling, AI can significantly accelerate the response process, ultimately saving lives in affected communities.
Why does it matter?
Google’s partnership with Bellwether underscores the potential of AI in disaster response efforts. Additionally, Bellwether is developing a wildfire prediction tool that utilises historical data and environmental factors to forecast fire risk, demonstrating the broader applications of AI in mitigating natural disasters.
Organisators of the demonstrations confirmed that Google has fired an additional 20 employees in response to protests over its cloud-computing contract with the Israeli government. This brings the total number of terminated workers to 50. The group leading the protests, ‘No Tech for Apartheid’, expressed concern that some fired employees were bystanders rather than active participants in the protests, labelling the mass firings as retaliatory.
Confirming the terminations, a Google spokesperson stated that an investigation into disruptions during the protests on 16 April had concluded. The spokesperson emphasised that all dismissed employees were directly involved in disruptive activities within the company’s premises. In response, the worker group vowed to continue their activism within Google, denouncing the company’s actions as an attempt to suppress dissent.
The firings come amidst a broader societal debate over corporate responsibility and workplace activism, particularly regarding issues such as the US government and business support for Israel. CEO Sundar Pichai recently urged Google employees to refrain from discussing politics in the workplace, emphasising the company’s focus on business matters.
The situation underscores tensions between corporate interests and employee activism, raising questions about the boundaries of free expression and dissent within tech companies like Google.
