Google is now making movies to spread pro Big Tech messages
Google is seemingly taking a new route to influence public conversation around Big Tech — by funding films. The tech giant has reportedly launched a movie and television production initiative called 100 Zeros, aiming to co-produce or financially support select creative projects that align with its vision for the future. This seems to be a calculated move by Google to bring its message into popular media while the entertainment industry faces cost pressures and changing market dynamics.advertisementThe project is being carried out in partnership with Range Media Partners, a talent and production firm known for its involvement in films like A Complete Unknown and Longlegs. With 100 Zeros, the focus will be on projects that spotlight emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and spatial computing — areas where Google is actively developing new products.While Google hasn't issued a statement on the matter yet, details reported by Business Insider suggest this move is part of a broader strategy to build cultural relevance around the company's newer offerings, especially its AI-powered services. One example is Cuckoo, an indie horror film that received backing from the initiative in 2024. The film's marketing was reportedly supported through 100 Zeros, establishing it as an early project under the new banner.
Interestingly, despite Google owning YouTube — the world's largest video platform — the company is not looking at it as the main channel for distributing content created under 100 Zeros. Instead, the plan is to work with traditional film studios and major streaming services like Netflix. This represents a contrast to Google's earlier venture, YouTube Originals, which was phased out in 2022 as YouTube chose to return its focus to short-form content and creator-driven videos.advertisementHollywood's current environment may have also contributed to the timing of Google's entry into the space. The film and TV industry is still recovering from a tough year that included simultaneous strikes by actors and writers, along with fears about potential US tariffs on internationally produced content. These challenges have opened a window for deep-pocketed companies like Google to enter the space, especially when they can bring funding and technological appeal.The partnership with Range Media is already yielding results. Google recently announced that two films under the deal — titled Sweetwater and LUCID — are scheduled to release later this year. Both projects are expected to explore themes around artificial intelligence, tying directly into Google's ambitions to drive adoption of its own AI tools, such as Gemini.While the company may not be explicitly branding these films as tech promotions, the underlying goal seems to be to increase familiarity with and acceptance of technologies that are becoming central to Google's future. Through cinema, Google might be hoping to change not just consumer interest but also public understanding of what Big Tech envisions for the years ahead.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
35 minutes ago
- News18
Jessie J To Have Early Stage Breast Cancer Surgery After London Music Festival
Jessie J To Have Early Stage Breast Cancer Surgery After London Music Festival | N18G Last Updated: June 05, 2025, 22:00 IST Movies English pop singer Jessie J revealed she has early-stage breast cancer and will have surgery after her performance at London's Capital Summertime Ball. She shared the news openly on Instagram, saying she wants to raise awareness and appreciates the support from fans. Watch this video to know more. bollywood news | entertainment news live | latest bollywood news | bollywood | news18 | n18oc_moviesLiked the video? Please press the thumbs up icon and leave a comment. Subscribe to Showsha YouTube channel and never miss a video: Showsha on Instagram: Showsha on Facebook: Showsha on X: Showsha on Snapchat: entertainment and lifestyle news and updates on: More Videos homevideos Jessie J To Have Early Stage Breast Cancer Surgery After London Music Festival | N18G CNN name, logo and all associated elements ® and © 2024 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. CNN and the CNN logo are registered marks of Cable News Network, LP LLLP, displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them. © Copyright Network18 Media and Investments Ltd 2024. All rights reserved.
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
AI's dirty secret: How your chatbot is draining Earth's water and energy
Every time you ask a chatbot for help or generate an AI image, somewhere a vast facility hums to life. It's easy to forget that each 'effortless' AI interaction leans on gigantic data centres -- buildings full of servers running nonstop, devouring electricity and gulping is World Environment Day, so it feels fitting to pull back the curtain on AI's unseen carbon footprint, even as we keep creating content with the help of AI, like the images used in this very POWER BEHIND THE MAGIC: WHY AI NEEDS HUGE DATA CENTRESAI models like ChatGPT and sophisticated image generators don't float on dreams. They rely on colossal data centres packed with racks of servers that rarely sleep. IAD71 Amazon Web Services data centre (as on July 17, 2024 in Ashburn, Virginia) () In 2024, global data centres -- including those powering AI -- used around 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity. That's roughly equal to Sweden's entire annual power consumption (International Energy Agency, 2024).Forecasts suggest this figure could double to 1,000 TWh by 2026, which would almost match Germany's yearly electricity per the US Department of Energy, a single data centre can draw over 100 megawatts (MW) of power -- enough to run 80,000 average American homes at now you can begin to see why AI has become a 'sizable' contributor to global emissions. AI's rapid expansion is a big driver behind this surge. CARBON COST OF CHATBOTS: ENERGY USED PER PROMPTTraining a large language model isn't a weekend project -- it's an electricity instance, powering up OpenAI's GPT-3 used about 1.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, enough to supply roughly 120 average American homes for a year (ScienceDirect, 2023).Once the model is live, every single prompt you send to GPT-4 still sips power -- about 0.0003 kilowatt-hours (kWh). That's like leaving a 60-watt light bulb on for 20 seconds (Epoch AI, 2025).Now imagine this at scale: ChatGPT answers over 1 billion queries a day. If every Google search worldwide -- around 9 billion a day -- were replaced with a ChatGPT query, global energy use would spike by an extra 10 TWh per year. That's enough to power all the homes in a city the size of San Francisco for a year (Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University, 2024).advertisementGenerating a single AI-created image isn't free either. It can use as much energy as fully charging your smartphone once. THE WATER-COOLING FACTOR: HOW AI IS DRAINING RESOURCESElectricity tells only half the story. Those thousands of servers run hot, and cooling them eats up alarming amounts of 2024, Google's data centres consumed nearly 6 billion gallons (22.7 billion litres) of water -- about one-third of Turkey's drinking water for an entire year, as per its 2024 Environment model training, every 10-20 prompts to Google's Bard chatbot reportedly required about 500 ml of water -- mostly for average, data centres use about 1.8 litres of water per kWh of electricity consumed (Meta Platforms, 2023). Put another way, a single large data centre can guzzle as much water in 24 hours as a small that thirst is rising -- industry water consumption grows by 8-20% each year, thanks to AI's surging role and stiff competition (University of California, Riverside, and University of Texas at Arlington, 2025). advertisementWHO'S DOING IT BETTER: GREEN AI INITIATIVES AND THEIR LIMITSSome big names in tech are trying to curb AI's environmental chew. Microsoft, for instance, has cut its water use per computing unit by 39% since 2021, saving about 125 million litres per data centre annually by using reclaimed water and smarter cooling methods (Meta Platforms, 2023).Alternative cooling strategies -- like air cooling or immersing servers in liquid -- are also under the microscope. But these options come with their own cooling cuts water use but can drive up energy needs for pumps or special fluids. Air cooling can be less water-dependent, yet efficiency dips when temperatures climb (Meta Platforms, 2023).Switching to renewables helps, but even 'green' electricity can't keep pace with AI's relentless demand. A recent MIT Lincoln Laboratory report warned that global demand for clean power is lagging far behind AI's growth many companies still don't fully share their energy or water metrics, making it near impossible to verify progress. advertisementTHE BOTTOM LINEAI's magic comes at a genuine cost. Data centres powering our digital conversations and image creations now rival entire nations in electricity use. They swig water comparable to small as AI continues its meteoric rise, this environmental toll only grows World Environment Day, it's worth asking: how can we keep enjoying the convenience of AI without letting it swallow our planet?'Green AI' efforts -- more efficient hardware, smarter cooling, renewable electricity -- are steps in the right direction. But the gap between AI's hunger and our ability to supply green power remains we don't face this challenge head-on, our planet will bear the brunt. Every prompt you send, every image you generate, leaves an unseen footprint that's getting harder to Watch
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Google takes a gamble in class action jury trial over cell phone data use
HighlightsGoogle is facing an $800 million lawsuit in Santa Clara County, California, from Android smartphone users who claim the company misappropriates their cellphone data, affecting an estimated 14 million Californians. The plaintiffs allege that Google secretly transmits data over cellular networks even when devices are turned off, which they argue improperly consumes purchased data from mobile carriers without user consent. Despite Google's history of settling class actions, the company is opting for a trial, disputing the plaintiffs' claims that they have a property interest in cellular data allowances and arguing that no actual losses were incurred. Class actions rarely go to trial, which is why a case against Google is proving to be an outlier. The tech giant is defending itself before a jury in Santa Clara County, California, superior court in an $800 million lawsuit by Android smartphone users who say Google misappropriates their cellphone data. A jury of eight women and four men was seated on Tuesday in what lawyers say is expected to be a three-to-four-week trial, with opening statements kicking off on Wednesday. The stakes are high, but the class, which includes an estimated 14 million Californians whose mobile devices use Google's Android operating system, is in some ways just an appetizer. The same plaintiffs lawyers from Korein Tillery; Bartlit Beck and McManis Faulkner are litigating a parallel case in San Jose federal court covering Android users in the other 49 states, with billions of dollars in alleged damages. The plaintiffs in court papers say that even when their phones are turned off, Google causes Android devices to surreptitiously send information over cellular networks "for Google's own purposes," including targeted digital advertising. These transfers improperly eat up data that users purchase from their mobile carriers, the plaintiffs allege. Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the claims "mischaracterize standard industry practices that help protect users and make phones more reliable," he told me. "We look forward to making our case in court." A unit of Mountain View, California-based Alphabet, Google has a well-used playbook for settling class actions. Earlier this week, for example, the company agreed to pay $500 million to resolve shareholder litigation - a move that comes on the heels of a $50 million deal in May to resolve class-wide allegations of racial bias against Black employees and a $100 million payout in March to a proposed class of advertisers who claimed they were overcharged for clicks on ads. So why is Google taking this case to trial? In court papers, Google's outside counsel from Cooley argue that Android users incurred no actual losses, and that consumers consented to Google's so-called "passive" data transfers via terms of service agreements and device settings. The lawyers also dispute the fundamental premise of the case: that cellular data allowances can be considered "property" under California law and subject to conversion, a civil cause of action that involves taking a person's property without permission. When the "rhetoric and hyperbole are set aside, Plaintiffs' theory is revealed as little more than a (misguided) product design claim - not wrongful conversion," defense counsel wrote. The Cooley team, which includes Whitty Somvichian, Michael Attanasio, Max Bernstein and Carrie Lebel, declined comment. The plaintiffs sued Google in Santa Clara County Superior Court in 2019, asserting that they have a property interest in their cellular plans' data allowances, and that each quantum they pay for has a market value. They don't object to data transmissions when they're actively engaged with Google's apps and properties, like checking email or playing a game. But they say Google never told them it would avail itself of their cellular data when they weren't using their phones to send and receive a range of information on their usage. "The upshot is that these phone users unknowingly subsidize the same Google advertising business that earns over $200 billion a year," plaintiffs lawyer George Zelcs of Korein Tillery said via email. In addition to injunctive relief, the plaintiffs want Google to reimburse them for the value of the cellular data the company consumed. Per person, the amount is modest - 1 to 1.5 megabytes of data each day, the plaintiffs estimate. To put that in context, Americans used just over 100 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2023, my Reuters colleagues reported. But with a class period dating back to 2016, the totals add up quickly. In court papers, Google lawyers sound almost incredulous at the amount of the claimed nationwide damages, which they say runs in the tens of billions - more than the $7.4 billion Perdue Pharma settlement for the opioid crisis, they note. "Plaintiffs cannot show remotely commensurate harm to the class," they wrote. In denying Google's motion for summary judgment in May, Judge Charles Adams allowed the plaintiffs' claim for conversion to go forward, ruling there are triable issues of material fact for jurors to decide. While Adams said no direct state law precedent exists as to whether cell phone data is property, he pointed to a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year in the parallel federal class action, Taylor v Google. In that case, U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia DeMarchi in San Jose sided with Google and dismissed the complaint with prejudice in 2022, only to be reversed and remanded on appeal. The appellate panel in an unpublished decision ruled that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged they incurred damages when Google used their cellular data. Adams in a pre-trial order set some limits on what the lawyers will be allowed to argue to the jury. Plaintiffs may not suggest Google engages in "surveillance" of Android users, he wrote, or that the data transfers are a privacy violation. As for Google, Adams said, it "must not present evidence or argument suggesting that this case is 'lawyer driven' or was 'invented' by Plaintiffs' counsel."
