7 major AI updates this week — including one that could change search forever
Whether you're trying to learn faster, protect your privacy or star in your own TV show, here are the biggest AI headlines you might've missed and what these latest updates mean for you.
Gemini's new mode called Deep Think is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of rushing to deliver an answer, Deep Think gives Gemini more 'thinking time,' letting it run a parallel process to brainstorm, refine and settle on a better response.
The result is smarter, more reasoned answers that feel surprisingly human. If you're looking to try it, you'll have to sign up as an Ultra subscriber.
However, based on past rollouts, don't be surprised if Google eventually makes it free.
Google's AI Overviews now let you upload entire files like PDFs or images and ask questions about them directly.
It's a time saver when you need to summarize a large document or, if you need to scan that document, you can do that, too. Just upload it in the chat and Google will take care of the rest.
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Combined with the new follow-up feature, Google is turning search into something closer to a true AI assistant (and more than just a results page).
Another big update from Google. NotebookLM can now generate Video Overviews, narrated, slide-style summaries of your documents complete with quotes, diagrams and data pulled directly from your files.
You can also create multiple versions of audio, video or visual outputs in the same notebook and mix formats (like listening to a summary while viewing a mind map).
It's a big step toward making research more interactive.
This week, users discovered that shared ChatGPT chats were surfacing in Google search results, even ones with sensitive or private information.
OpenAI quickly disabled the "Make public" toggle that enabled sharing, and it's now working with search engines to de-index exposed chats.
If you've ever shared a conversation link, it might be worth double-checking your settings and deleting anything you don't want out in the wild (aka the internet).
Your Edge browser is now a full-blown AI assistant. Microsoft rolled out Copilot Mode, a smart sidebar that adapts to whatever you're doing online.
For example, if you're reading an article, Copilot Mode can take over and summarize it. If you're writing an email, the AI will suggest improvements. And if you're shopping online, it can compare products in real time. It's one of the most proactive AI upgrades we've seen from Microsoft yet.
Need help studying? ChatGPT's new Study Mode turns the chatbot into a personalized tutor. Students of all levels and skill levels can take advantage of this AI-powered opportunity to learn more efficiently.
All you do is choose your subject, set your level and decide how you want to learn; via flashcards, concept breakdowns, practice problems or Q&A.
Whether you're prepping for a test or just brushing up, this free feature is worth a try.
A new capability inside ChatGPT is Agent mode. Unlike a typical chatbot, the Agent can actually do things for you like browse the web, organize files or run multi-step tasks such as creating and emailing a report.
When I put Agent Mode to the test, I discovered the AI could juggle real-world assignments with surprising ease, though it still needs some hand-holding. I don't trust it completely yet, but it will be interesting to see how it evolves.
A new Amazon-backed startup called Showrunner is making waves by offering what it calls the 'Netflix of AI.'
Using just a short prompt, you can generate an entire animated TV episode and even insert yourself into the story.
It uses AI to script, voice, and animate everything. As an early member, I have tried the AI tools and was impressed by how easy it is to use. Plus, the opportunity to see what the community of Showrunner users has created helps to spark new ideas.
From smarter search and study tools to evolving AI privacy issues, this week proves just how fast the AI landscape is changing.
Tech giants like Google, Microsoft and OpenAI continue to push the boundaries of what AI can do while new players like Showrunner hint at where things might be headed next.
If you blink, you might miss something big. But don't worry we'll be here every week to break it down.
Want to stay ahead? Bookmark our AI hub and check back for hands-on tests, expert tips and the latest news you need to know. AI is constantly evolving and the last few days prove just how quickly things change.
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Tom's Guide
18 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
Still stuck on Windows 10? Microsoft reveals the reasons why you can't upgrade to Windows 11, and how to fix them
One of the biggest frustrations in the world of computing at the moment is upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Microsoft started with some pretty high bars for Windows 10 users to clear to be able to upgrade — like higher minimum system requirements and a TPM 2.0 chip. But the Redmond crew has been starting to lend more of a helping hand, especially with a new pop-up notification and this support article. This details what key things may be driving compatibility issues with a newer version of windows. If there are compatibility issues with your hardware, you'll typically get pinged with a 'What needs your attention' banner message. In it, Microsoft points to four things: For Driver and Windows feature, it's going to be just a case of ensuring your PC is connected to the internet and either: Looking at hardware, it's worth noting that in spite of these issues, it's technically possible to install Windows 11 on a system that isn't compatible on paper. Microsoft does say 'you should be comfortable assuming the risk of running into compatibility issues." Here's our full guide on how to upgrade to Windows 11. And finally, apps. This one, you've got three choices depending on what is possible: Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. A key reason why this has been a frustration is the end of life messaging hasn't necessarily come with clear steps to fix it. Microsoft was more than happy to tell you what won't work, but didn't really highlight proactive steps to be upgrade-ready. With this, it's great to see support on how to get around these holds on people being unable to upgrade to Windows 11, and I can see it helping a lot of people in getting to the latest version. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Big Tech is power-hungry, and America's aging grid can't keep up
For more than a decade, the demand for power across the US has been nearly stagnant, growing by less than 1% per year. Then came the data center revolution. The world's largest tech companies are waging a power-driven arms race to be at the forefront of the computing and AI technology wave. These so-called hyperscalers — including tech giants like Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), and Oracle (ORCL) — have poured money into pushing artificial intelligence development and computing ability ever further. In turn, US electricity demand has exploded and is projected to grow five times faster over the next 10 years than it did in the previous decade, according to research from Bank of America (BAC). And these companies are showing no signs of slowing down. "The large data center developers and their hyperscaler customers want power right away," said Rob Gramlich, president of electricity infrastructure consulting firm Grid Strategies. But America's tech industry may be overestimating just how much pressure the power grid can take — and how quickly the nation's utilities will actually be able to meet the rampant demand. Aging infrastructure well beyond its useful life, decades of stagnant industrial investment, and years-long delays in getting new power connected to the grid may put a wrench in Big Tech's plans. In some of the country's most important markets, this "misalignment of expectations" could equal a lag of at least one to two years, if not longer, before the power that data center developers are seeking is actually available, according to a July report by clean energy fuel cell provider Bloom Energy (BE). Closing that gap, according to eight different analysts, researchers, and energy traders who spoke with Yahoo Finance, will require a long lead time, an intensive amount of new energy infrastructure development, and an enormous amount of capital. In the meantime, the ramifications are likely to be widespread. Stress on the grid is sending Americans' electricity bills higher, and the US is losing ground to foreign competitors looking to host the new generation of computing hubs that hold and process data generated by some of the most powerful companies in the world. Michael Dunne, the chief financial officer of energy utility operator NextEra Energy (NEE), called out the excess demand on the company's earnings call in July: "There is an outrageous amount of need for energy infrastructure in this country that's going to go well past the end of this decade." Dunne's company stands to benefit. Power play Across the globe, a web of thousands of data centers is springing up, from 'Data Center Alley' in Loudoun County, Va., to Richland Parish in the northeastern corner of rural Louisiana and Kolkata, India, and it forms the backbone of the AI and cloud-computing industries. Global power usage by data centers is expected to grow from a current level of around 55 gigawatts to 84 gigawatts — equivalent to the power usage of roughly 70 million homes — in only the next two years, according to research from Goldman Sachs. And the biggest names in tech are only increasing their plans for more. In December, Meta (META) announced plans to spend $10 billion building the largest data center hub in the Western Hemisphere, 250 miles north of New Orleans. The site, which Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has said will be bigger than the island of Manhattan, is expected to come online in 2030. This year, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta alone are expected to spend $364 billion in capital expenditures, much of it going toward AI technology development. But the increasing demand from data centers that each require a power draw equivalent to thousands of homes is running up against an aging and largely stagnant North American grid, threatening stability. "The size and speed at which large data centers, typically developed to support the computing needs for AI and cryptocurrency mining, are expanding across the country" represents a "significant near-term reliability challenge," according to research from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a nonprofit deputized by the federal government to regulate the power grid. To understand the problem, you have to understand how the grid works. At a basic level, electricity follows a roughly three-step process to reach a home, a data center, or any other endpoint. A power source, such as the Linden Cogeneration Plant that lights up the night sky outside New York City or the soaring towers of Georgia's nuclear Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, generates energy. That energy is then transmitted across power lines that crisscross the country. Once it reaches its destination, the electricity is distributed to the tangle of smaller lines that many Americans see running through their communities and that carry it to its final destination. The generation sources, such as coal plants and solar farms, determine capacity, or how much power is actually available for use. And the market is already capacity-constrained. "We've grown accustomed to several decades of pretty slow demand growth in the electric sector, and the last few years have really turned that on its head," Brendan Pierpont, the director of electric modeling at the research organization Electric Innovation, told Yahoo Finance. The gap has already begun to push tech developers to look abroad. While the US still claims the dominant share of data center power markets globally, the rest of the world is gaining ground. The Asia Pacific region has seen the lion's share of added power supply over the last decade, according to Goldman Sachs research. Beijing is now the world's second-largest market for hyperscaler power capacity, only behind the US's northern Virginia region, according to reports from Synergy Research Group. To be sure, North America is projected to have the largest amount of new power coming online in the next five years out of any global region. But fresh development takes a long time. On the shorter end of the spectrum, Goldman Sachs utilities analyst Carly Davenport told Yahoo Finance, a company like NextEra could likely bring a solar or wind facility into service within 18 to 24 months. But if the goal is to bring on serious capacity through a project at the scale of a gas plant, where new builds on average have added four times the capacity of a new solar build, or a much larger capacity nuclear power plant, the timeline is much longer. In the meantime, hyperscalers may have to find other answers. "If you are deciding today that you want to build new gas, you likely will not be able to take delivery of a turbine until 2029," Davenport said. "If you're wanting to build new nuclear, that's something that we think is more [of] a mid-2030s type event to actually get that online." And once a new generation resource is built, it often has to sit in a years-long queue just to get connected to the grid. At PJM Interconnection, the grid operator of the largest power market in the US, the process to get grid-connected takes five years on average, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Only around a fifth of the generation projects that requested grid connection between 2000 and 2018 were in commercial operation by 2023, the Laboratory found. The $800 billion push Work on the infrastructure that brings power from source to destination — the transformers and power lines running throughout the country — has also remained largely stagnant. Thirty-one percent of transmission equipment and 46% of distribution equipment in the US are within five years of the end of their useful life or have already passed that point, according to research from Bank of America. Across the country's electric utilities, which deliver energy to customers and maintain the infrastructure required to do so, two-thirds of 2024 spending went toward replacing existing infrastructure, the bank found. And the pace of new grid development has been slowing down. The US built an average of 1,700 miles of transmission infrastructure per year through the first half of the 2010s, but the back half of the decade saw only 645 miles built on average per year, according to Grid Strategies. To be sure, data centers are also not the only things pulling on the grid. Electrification mandates, electric vehicle development, and other power-hungry technologies like cryptocurrency mining all continue to exert pressure on a strained grid. "I think what's happening is sort of refocusing to people, 'Hey, we have these assets that are now approaching 30 to 40 years [of operation], and not only do you need to replace them, you need to upgrade them," Bank of America industrials analyst Andrew Obin told Yahoo Finance. "If you run the grid without real money for 20 years, things start to break." In response, the utilities industry is not sitting still. GE Vernova (GEV), which supplies equipment to customers including AI and cloud-computing data center developers, utilities companies, and industrial-scale power projects, saw its orders for power-related equipment increase by more than 40% in Q2 2025 compared to Q2 2024, according to the company's latest earnings report. The company has received $500 million in orders specifically for data center electrification this year, compared to $600 million throughout all of 2024, CEO Scott Strazik said on the earnings call. But meeting the growing need will require an immense amount of both capital and labor. Utilities are now expected to spend $800 billion over the next five years, compared to only $550 billion spent between 2020 and 2024, Goldman Sachs' Davenport told Yahoo Finance, and the US is projected to need to add more than 500,000 jobs by 2030 in the electric sector. Market stress Each year, PJM holds a capacity auction to determine the lowest pay-rate energy producers are willing to accept from the grid operator to guarantee that they will be ready to provide power at any time during the delivery period covered by the auction, usually several years out. In this summer's auction, generators offered an additional 2,669 megawatts of power supplies to be added through infrastructure upgrades and new builds. It was the first time in the past four auctions that new capacity was added. But the additions only meet around half of the demand PJM is expecting to see over the coming three years. That impact will show up in Americans' electricity bills. In PJM's 2024 auction, the utility's clearing price — the end price that determines what it has to pay all participating power generators — was $269.92 per megawatt-day, an 800% increase from the previous year. That December, after utilities companies warned customers in PJM-covered Pennsylvania that monthly bill prices could increase by $15, Governor Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit against PJM, claiming the grid operator's poor processing capabilities had harmed customers and created "potentially the largest unjust wealth transfer in the history of U.S. energy markets." In response, PJM filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to create a price collar for the coming auctions that was accepted and put into effect. This year's auction saw prices clear levels more than 20% higher, at $329.17 per MW-day, which is the price cap established by the PJM proposal. This is expected to raise consumers' electric bills in PJM's coverage area — 13 states across the mideast region of the country plus Washington, D.C. — by 1.5%-5%, on average, according to the operator. This effect is not constrained to only the country's biggest or fastest-growing markets. If a developer cannot find power in one market or is unwilling to accept proposed timelines, several experts told Yahoo Finance, it will go elsewhere until it finds a market that suits its needs. "The stress on every grid from increased electricity demand doled out by data center clusters is noticeable," Brad Jones, managing partner of power-trading specialist hedge fund Standard Normal, told Yahoo Finance. "We are really and truly seeing it everywhere." Aaron Tinjum, the vice president of energy at the Data Center Coalition trade association, which counts Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle as members, told Yahoo Finance that while the industry has largely tried to "right-size infrastructure and minimize any unnecessary costs, the data center industry has also experienced the acute impacts of under-forecasting and insufficient communication" that have created "multi-year project delays in key data center markets." "While we recognize that grid planning and management is ultimately the role of utilities, grid operators, and regulators, the data center industry has been actively leaning in as a committed and engaged partner across the country to help advance and accelerate grid modernization and energy infrastructure to support American economic competitiveness and national security," Tinjum said. Over the long term, US capacity is largely expected to meet demand, Davenport told Yahoo Finance. The NERC has projected that several hundred gigawatts of capacity from new generation are expected to arrive within the decade. But in the meantime, the gap between supply and demand has pushed the biggest tech players to search for other solutions. In March 2024, Amazon Web Services announced a deal worth $650 million with power producer and energy infrastructure operator Talen Energy (TLN). In return for that sum, Talen is set to provide Amazon with more than 19 gigawatts of energy from its Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, one of the largest nuclear plants in the country, to power a data center site directly adjacent to the plant. Then in September 2024, Microsoft inked a deal with Constellation Energy (CEG) to purchase power that Constellation plans to generate by bringing one of two reactors at the decommissioned Three Mile Island nuclear plant back online by 2028. Electricity Innovation's Pierpont told Yahoo Finance that he expects hyperscalers and other large tech players to increasingly pursue deals like Amazon's and Microsoft's as they look at how much power they can generate themselves on-site — especially as data center development shows no signs of slowing down. Alphabet recently announced on its Q2 earnings call that data centers and networking equipment made up a full third of its $22.4 billion in capital expenditures for the quarter, while Microsoft said it will spend $80 billion by the end of the year to "build out AI-enabled datacenters to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications around the world." "Helping accelerate growth while also making sure we pay our fair share for the electricity to serve our operations is critical for Google," Alphabet said in a statement provided to Yahoo Finance. "Our priority is to help responsibly scale grid systems, making them more reliable, resilient and affordable for everyone." Amazon implied on its Q4 2024 earnings call that it will spend around $63 billion on capex in the second half of 2025, and Oracle predicted in its Q4 earnings call that the "vast majority" of its projected $25 billion-plus in capex will be spent on "equipment that is going into data centers and not for land or buildings." 'We work closely with utilities and grid operators to plan for future growth," Amazon said in a statement. "Where we require specific infrastructure to meet our needs (such as new substations), we work to make sure that we're covering those costs and that they aren't being passed on to other ratepayers." Tech players have begun to announce initiatives to ease some of the burden of their grid draw. Google recently signed agreements with two US utilities to operate a "demand response" model for its data centers that can "shift or reduce" power during peak demand times, which the company said will help to get new developments grid-connected more quickly, reduce the need for new capacity, and make it easier for operators to better manage power grids. But activist groups like the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) say they haven't seen the tech players live up to their claims. "As state regulators respond to growing demand, the data center industry has demonstrated a lack of transparency about their energy use and an unwillingness to aggressively push for state and federal policy that would unlock barriers to the clean energy and transmission infrastructure needed to meet their stated goals," SELC climate initiative leader Alys Campaigne told Yahoo Finance. SELC has threatened Elon Musk's xAI with lawsuits over its Colossus data center project in Memphis that activists say involved installing gas turbines without proper permitting. SELC has also worked with other activist groups to block data center developments. Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. For its part, the energy industry is likely to push back plans to retire existing gas and coal plants that can provide steady capacity, even if they are at or near the point of decommissioning, Goldman Sachs' Davenport and Bank of America's Obin told Yahoo Finance. "You could push those [retirement timelines] out and to the right to a degree to try to bridge the gap," Davenport said. "They're not getting pushed out to the right by 10 years, but could you see two, three-year push-outs? I think that's absolutely reasonable." The industrial sector is also likely to push harder on existing infrastructure that might not be operating at its full capacity limit, Obin said. And regulators such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are finding ways to step in, including by forcing PJM to reform its grid connection queue process to make sure new energy resources like the more than 100 GW of solar capacity currently in its pipeline can get plugged in more effectively. In the meantime, as the grid works to grow and manage increased loads, the major tech developers will be forced to adapt, the experts who spoke with Yahoo Finance said. If renewable energy sources such as new solar and wind developments remain stuck in connection pipelines, some companies may join xAI in looking toward non-renewable solutions like gas turbines that they can quickly bring online. "A lack of capital is not the most pressing bottleneck for AI progress," Dan Dees, Goldman Sachs' co-head of global banking and markets, said in a report from the bank on AI's energy demand. "It's the power needed to fuel it." Jake Conley is a breaking news reporter covering US equities for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X at @byjakeconley or email him at Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Android Authority
an hour ago
- Android Authority
Whatever you do, don't buy a Google Pixel phone right now
C. Scott Brown / Android Authority Google's Pixel phones are often among the most highly-regarded in the Android world. The most recent Pixel 9 series is no exception to that rule, and, if anything, it's the best example of it yet. Whether we're talking about the baseline Pixel 9 or any of the flagship Pixel 9 Pro models, the current slate of Google Pixel phones is mighty impressive. That all said, if you're in the market for a new Android phone right now, you absolutely should not buy a Google Pixel — and there's a very good reason for that. Buy a Pixel 9 now or wait for the Pixel 10? 0 votes Buy a Pixel 9, the Pixel 10 rumors don't look good. NaN % Wait for the Pixel 10! It's almost here! NaN % Why buying a Google Pixel is a bad idea right now Ryan Haines / Android Authority If you closely follow the Pixel world, you may already know the answer to this one. Even so, it's an answer worth repeating. Last month, Google announced it would be holding a Made by Google event on Wednesday, August 20. Made by Google events are where Google traditionally announces its latest slate of Pixel hardware, and this year, that'll be the Google Pixel 10 series — including the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold. In other words, replacements for all of the mainline Pixel 9 handsets available today. This means we're now in that awkward time where a company's current generation of phones is still available, but the new models are right around the corner. Sometimes, if we're not expecting a significant upgrade for the new phones, it can make sense to still buy the current generation. However, based on what we know about the Pixel 10 series so far, purchasing a Pixel 9 before the Pixel 10gets here would be a huge mistake. There are a few reasons for this, the most significant of which is Google's new Tensor G5 chip. Robert Triggs / Android Authority All past and present Pixel phones — including the Pixel 9 series — have been held back to some degree by Google's Tensor chips. Between lacking horsepower, poor battery life, and disappointing thermal management, Tensor chips have never performed on the same level as their Qualcomm Snapdragon counterparts. Word on the street is that the Tensor G5 inside all of Google's Pixel 10 models will be the first 3nm Tensor chip and the first Tensor chip manufactured by TSMC rather than Samsung Foundry. If both of these points are true, the Tensor G5 could be dramatically more powerful and efficient than any Tensor chip that has come before it — potentially resolving the performance and efficiency gap that Pixels have had since the Pixel 6 and its Tensor G1 silicon. Another major upgrade expected for all Pixel 10 models is Qi2 magnetic charging. For the first time in a major Android phone, every Pixel 10 will reportedly have magnets built into its backside, allowing you to use magnetic chargers and other accessories without requiring a magnetic case (just like Apple has offered for years with MagSafe on the iPhone). Purchasing a Pixel 9 before the Pixel 10 gets here would be a huge mistake. This feature alone may have convinced me to buy a Pixel 10 when it goes on sale, and I have a feeling it's something a lot of people will have a hard time living without once they try it. Between magnetic charging stands, wallets, car mounts, and more, the convenience of being able to use all of them without needing a specific case is incredible — and it'll give the Pixel 10 a unique capability no other major Android phone currently offers. And there's more, too. For the baseline Pixel 10, specifically, we can likely expect a significant camera upgrade in the form of a new 5x telephoto camera — something the Pixel 9 lacks entirely. We should also see battery and charging upgrades for all Pixel 10 models. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is rumored to be the first foldable with an IP68 rating, and Google's new Magic Cue feature should lend the Pixel 10 handsets some AI magic. Do yourself a favor and wait for the Pixel 10 series At the time of publication, we're just a little over two weeks away from Google's Pixel 10 event. That means just two more weeks to wait before a new round of Pixel phones with a dramatically improved chipset, a game-changing charging/accessory system, bigger batteries, faster charging, upgraded cameras, and more. Although the Pixel 10 series will physically resemble its Pixel 9 predecessors, the internal changes we're expecting are nothing short of significant. You could buy a Pixel 9, but doing so would mean missing out on everything mentioned above when the Pixel 10 family arrives on August 20. As someone who's been reviewing and writing about phones for over a decade — and someone who's generally just a fan of Pixel phones — I'd strongly recommend holding off on buying a new Pixel phone until the Pixel 10 lineup is available. Robert Triggs / Android Authority On the one hand, if you wait to buy any of the Pixel 10 models, you'll be getting a phone that's better than its respective Pixel 9 predecessor in a multitude of ways. Plus, with rumors suggesting no major price increases, you'll pay the same amount that you would for a Pixel 9 today. On top of all that, even if you still want to buy a Pixel 9 once the Pixel 10 is revealed, you'll almost certainly be able to find last year's Pixels substantially discounted once the new models are here. Looked at this way, there's no tangible benefit of buying a Google Pixel right now. If anything, it puts you at a disadvantage. Buying a Google Pixel generally isn't a bad idea, but at this moment in time, it is — at least until August 20 rolls around. Follow
