Latest news with #Character.AI
India Today
8 hours ago
- India Today
Google launches app to let anyone run AI models on their phone without internet
Google has quietly launched a new app called the AI Edge Gallery, and it aims to change how artificial intelligence works on smartphones. The app allows Android users to run powerful AI models directly on their devices, completely offline. In other words, you can now generate images, write code, or get smart answers without needing to connect to the key benefit of this move is enhanced privacy and faster performance. Since everything runs on the device itself, there's no need to transmit data to cloud servers, reducing the risk of security breaches. It also means no waiting for the server to respond — AI answers arrive instantly. advertisementAt the core of this experience is a language model named Gemma 3 1B. Weighing in at just 529MB, this compact model can process up to 2,585 tokens per second, enabling rapid text generation and seamless interactions. Despite its small size, Gemma is powerful enough to support everything from custom content creation to document analysis and smart replies in messaging apps. The app also draws from Hugging Face, one of the most trusted sources of open AI models, and is built on Google's AI Edge platform. That means it benefits from technologies like TensorFlow Lite and MediaPipe, which help optimise performance across a wide range of devices, even those with modest hardware. That said, Google has pointed out that performance may vary depending on the device. Older or mid-range phones might struggle with larger models, so opting for lighter models is advisable in such to Google, users will find the interface refreshingly straightforward. Features like AI Chat and Ask Image offer intuitive access to AI tools, while the Prompt Lab allows people to experiment with short, single-turn prompts. The lab also includes preset templates and settings for tweaking how models the app is still in what Google calls an 'experimental Alpha release,' it's fully open source under the Apache 2.0 licence. This means developers and companies alike are free to use it, modify it, or even integrate it into commercial products. An iOS version is also reportedly on the development comes at a time amid ongoing scrutiny of Google's broader AI ambitions. Just last week, the US Department of Justice opened a civil antitrust investigation into the company's licensing deal with AI startup Critics have raised concerns that the agreement may have been designed to dodge a federal merger that, the release of AI Edge Gallery positions Google as a leader in making offline AI not only possible but also practical. And with the ability to run powerful models right from your pocket, it's a step toward making AI more personal, private, and always ready — no Wi-Fi required.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Nearly Half of Young People Wish the Internet Had Never Been Invented
It's a common refrain these days that some specific invention was a mistake, in our age of seemingly every human innovation blowing up catastrophically in our faces. And what better subject of our collective remorse than the advent of the entire internet, the glorious information superhighway now turned AI slop trough? According to a new survey conducted in the UK, this appears to be the sentiment held by nearly half of young people — at least across the pond — who are mourning missing out on the diverging timeline where they aren't chronically online and wracked with brain rot. Of the nearly 1,300 total participants between the ages of 16 to 21 years old, 68 percent said they feel worse after spending time on social media. A full 50 percent said they would support a "social media curfew" cutting off how long they could spend on these apps. And astonishingly, another 47 percent outright felt that they would prefer to be living their youth in a world without the internet at all. The survey, conducted by the British Standards Institution, raises tough questions about how the internet affects teenage and young adult mental health, and what should be done to intervene — without being too controlling or draconian. "That nearly half of young people would prefer to grow up without the internet should be a wake-up call for all of us," Daisy Greenwell, co-founder of Smart Phone Free Childhood, said in a statement. "We've built a world where it's normal for children to spend hours each day in digital spaces designed to keep them hooked." The problems may start practically when the young generations are just out of the womb. Studies have shown excessive iPad use in young children, for example, to be linked with emotional and social issues as they get older. Their online experience becomes especially fraught when they're teenagers, a point when they're exploring more of the web and begin to venture into adult spaces. This comes with excitement for youngsters, but plenty of danger, too, from being targeted by predators in video games to algorithms that draw them down an extremist pipeline. The rise of AI has added a whole new dimension of ethical nightmares. On Futurism, we extensively covered the chatbot platform whose putatively kid-friendly chatbots have attempted to groom underaged users. One 14 year-old-boy even developed an unhealthy with a chatbot before dying by suicide, resulting in an ongoing lawsuit against the company. According to the recent survey, two-thirds of the participants said they spend more than two hours on social media every day. Among them, young women reported facing more harassment, at 37 percent, than young men, at 28 percent. Merely using social media may itself be a source of misery: a recent study which followed 12,000 preteens as they grew up to become teenagers over the course of three years, found that as their social media usage went up, so did their depression symptoms. "Young people are now asking for boundaries — for curfews, age checks, meaningful limits, and real protection," argued Greenwell. "They are ready for change." But it won't be that simple. "We need to make clear that a digital curfew alone is not going to protect children from the risks they face online," Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, told The Guardian. "They will be able to see all these risks at other points of the day and they will still have the same impact." More on: US Surgeon General Warns Against 13-Year-Old Using Social Media
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Teens Are Exploring Relationships & Sexting With AI Chatbots — & Restrictions Aren't Working
In news that sounds like science fiction, teens are exploring relationships with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots — and circumventing any restrictions designed to stop them. Teens are using their digital 'boyfriends' and 'girlfriends' for emotional connection and sexting, and it's becoming a big problem. According to The Washington Post, teens are having conversations that are romantic, sexually graphic and violent, and more on 'ai companion' tools like Replika, Talkie, Talk AI, SpicyChat, and PolyBuzz. General generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Meta AI have also launched companion-chat tools. More from SheKnows Nicole Kidman Reveals She Discusses 'The Most Intimate Things' With Her Teenage Daughters: 'I Get To Be Their Guide' Damian Redman of Saratoga Springs, New York, found PolyBuzz on his 8th grader's phone, and found that his son was having flirty conversations with AI female anime characters. 'I don't want to put yesterday's rules on today's kids. I want to wait and figure out what's going on,' he told the outlet. 'We're seeing teens experiment with different types of relationships — being someone's wife, being someone's father, being someone's kid. There's game and anime-related content that people are working though. There's advice,' Robbie Torney, senior director of AI programs at family advocacy group Common Sense Media, said in the article. 'The sex is part of it but it's not the only part of it.' The outlet reported 10 different AI companions, citing workarounds, paid options, and prompts that teens can use to get past content restriction filters. That's scary stuff! Even if you are on top of it, it's hard to completely protect them from having harmful and/or explicit interactions. One concerned parent recently took to Reddit, where they shared that they blocked from their 14-year-old's phone, and later found they were on 'I hate to think my child's first romantic (and sexual) interactions are with bots,' they wrote on the Parenting subreddit. 'It's just creepy. Am I the only parent having this problem? Thoughts?' Some parents suggested focusing on more of a communication approach with your child instead of trying to block everything. 'We have 'had a conversation' and 'communicated' with our teenage son for YEARS,' one person wrote. 'We've used multiple parental control apps. All for naught. He still finds ways to access what he wants. We're decently tech-savvy, but so is he. And the reality is there's no good way to completely prevent a singularly-minded hormonal teenager from achieving his/her goal.' Someone else wrote, 'There are more than dozens of these sites out there. Craving connection is a very human thing, which is only amplified in teenage years. Social media can do this which is why getting likes or being popular on social media is so desirable to teens, but this is an entire other drug. Forming 'personal' one on one relationships with AI chatbots is so dangerous. Keep them away from this drug at any cost.' Experts back up this opinion. In April, Common Sense Media launched an AI Risk Assessment Team to assess AI platforms to report on the likelihood of causing harm. Social AI companions like Nomi, and Replika were all ranked unacceptable for teen users, as teens were using these platforms to bond emotionally and engage in sexual conversations. According to Common Sense Media, this research found that the chatbots could generate 'harmful responses including sexual misconduct, stereotypes, and dangerous 'advice' that, if followed, could have life-threatening or deadly real-world impact for teens.' The experts at the organization recommend no social AI companions should be allowed for anyone under the age of 18. They also recommend further research and regulations on AI companions due to the emotional and psychological impacts they can cause teens, whose brains are still developing. For now, the best we can do is continue to monitor our teens' phones, keep having conversations about these issues, and advocate for of SheKnows Celebrity Moms Who Were Honest About Miscarriage & Pregnancy Loss — Because It Matters Every Single Time Shemar Moore Proved He's the Proudest First-Time Girl Dad The Best Places to Buy Furniture for Teens Online
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US DOJ probing Google over Character.AI deal
The US Justice Department (DOJ) is examining whether Alphabet's Google violated antitrust regulations through a deal involving the AI technology of a well-known chatbot developer, Bloomberg reported. Regulators are assessing whether the tech giant crafted the agreement to avoid formal merger oversight, sources familiar with the investigation told the publication. In the arrangement made in 2024, founders returned to Google, and the company obtained a non-exclusive license to utilise the startup's technology. The raised concerns among regulators about large tech companies suppressing emerging competitors. Google is 'always happy to answer any questions from regulators,' Peter Schottenfels, a company spokesperson in an emailed statement to the publication said. 'We're excited that talent from has joined the company, but we have no ownership stake and they remain a separate company.' The Justice Department can investigate whether the deal itself undermines competition, even if it did not require formal review, the report said. The inquiry is in its preliminary phase, and no accusations of misconduct have been made against Google. The probe may not lead to any enforcement action, the report added. recognised for its chatbots that can emulate various personalities or entities, was founded by ex-Google researchers who later rejoined the company with part of their research team. In August 2024, the publication reported that the deal valued at $2.5bn, with investors' shares bought out and the startup agreeing to a non-exclusive licensing deal for its large language model technology. continues to operate as an independent entity. The probe adds to Google's antitrust challenges, following court rulings that deemed the company's dominance in online search and advertising technology markets unlawful. In the search case, the Justice Department has recommended that Google divest its Chrome browser to foster competition and has requested a judicial ban on Google's payments for default search engine status, including for AI products. A decision is anticipated this summer. Earlier in May 2025, Google agreed to pay the State of Texas $1.375bn to resolve data-privacy claims. "US DOJ probing Google over deal" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. 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
Express Tribune
23-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Google faces DOJ antitrust probe over Character.AI deal: Bloomberg Law
Listen to article Alphabet Inc.'s Google is under investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for a potential antitrust violation concerning its partnership with AI startup according to a Bloomberg Law report. The DOJ is examining whether Google structured the deal to circumvent formal merger scrutiny, a move that could have significant implications for the tech industry's regulatory landscape. In 2024, Google entered into an agreement with granting the tech giant a non-exclusive license to use the startup's advanced chatbot technology. As part of the deal, co-founders, Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, along with other team members, rejoined Google. While Google maintains that remains an independent entity with no ownership stake from Google, regulators are scrutinising the arrangement to determine if it effectively constitutes an acquisition designed to bypass antitrust review processes. This investigation adds to a series of legal challenges facing Google. The Justice Department is probing whether Google violated antitrust law with an agreement to use the AI technology of a popular chatbot maker — Bloomberg (@business) May 22, 2025 Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that Google had illegally monopolised the online search and advertising markets, leading the DOJ to propose remedies that could include forcing Google to divest its Chrome browser and Android operating system. The DOJ is also considering measures to ensure competitive fairness in the rapidly evolving AI sector. The deal has drawn comparisons to similar arrangements by other tech giants. For instance, Microsoft's $650 million agreement with Inflection AI and Amazon's acquisition of AI talent from Adept have also attracted regulatory attention. These deals are being examined to assess whether they provide established companies with an unfair advantage over emerging competitors in the AI field. 🔥✌️More Insights from the Google vs. DOJ Antitrust trial about user data👇 — ✌️Oᒪᗩᖴ KOᑭᑭ 🔥 (@Olaf_Kopp) May 23, 2025 As the DOJ's investigation progresses, the outcome could reshape how future AI partnerships and acquisitions are evaluated under antitrust laws, potentially leading to stricter oversight of Big Tech's expansion into the AI market.
