Google.org is providing $2.5 million to support a World Bank Group and IFC effort to expand an AI-enabled Open Network for Agriculture after a pilot in India. The network is intended to connect farmers with services such as local-language advice, finance and markets across regions in Latin America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Reaching one million farmers by the end of 2027 is a stated goal, not a completed deployment.
Google is rolling out a new feature in the Google app that lets users describe what they want to see in Discover and uses AI to adjust the feed accordingly. The company says the system will remember those preferences for future visits, making Discover behave more like a conversationally tuned content feed.
Futurism reports that a Google AI system produced allegedly racist advice telling users to avoid being alone with certain groups of people and to call emergency services. Based on the article framing provided, the story centers on a harmful model output incident rather than a product launch, policy change, or company announcement.
Google is introducing a feature that lets readers mark a publisher as a preferred source across Google Search, Discover, and Google News. The move is framed as a way for publishers to regain traffic and visibility as AI-generated search experiences reduce clicks to the open web.
The Wall Street Journal reports that flight attendants at bankrupt Spirit Airlines are seeking assurances that confidential personal information will be excluded from any sale of the airline’s digital records to Google for AI-related use. The dispute centers on privacy and data-handling terms tied to a reported bid for access to Spirit’s data assets.
The Register reports that Google is considering Marvell as an alternative or counterweight to Broadcom in its AI chip supply strategy. The report says Marvell has proposed a $12.2 billion stake transaction to strengthen its position with Google as demand for AI infrastructure and custom silicon continues to rise.
Google has launched new study-focused AI features across Google Search and Gemini, targeting students and learning use cases. The update expands Google's effort to position Gemini as a consumer learning assistant while integrating more AI help directly into its core search product.
Google is offering eligible college students one year of its AI Pro subscription at no cost, according to Engadget. The promotion waives a plan that would normally cost about $200 and appears aimed at increasing student adoption of Google's paid consumer AI tools.
Google is participating in Operation Blue Skies, a project involving the UK government and airline partners that will use AI-informed analysis to slightly reroute flights in an effort to avoid forming contrails. The tests focus on whether targeted path changes can reduce aviation warming effects without major operational disruption.
AI automation startup Relay is shutting down, and much of its staff is joining Google’s Chrome team, according to TechCrunch. Relay founder and CEO Jacob Bank said the team will work on AI features in Chrome, signaling an acqui-hire style move rather than a standalone product launch or financing event.
Google has added a setting in Gemini and its AI video tool Flow that lets users turn off a visible watermark on AI-generated images, videos, and music. Reports indicate the change removes Google’s visible "sparkle" label while leaving invisible provenance markers in place for detection and identification purposes.
TechCrunch reports that Alphabet completed an $85 billion stock sale tied to funding Google’s AI business and infrastructure expansion. The financing is framed around surging demand for Google’s AI products and services, with the new report describing the raise as larger and apparently completed rather than previously planned.
