Latest news with #Google
Business Times
36 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Times
Meta AI bot used a billion times monthly: Mark Zuckerberg
[SAN FRANCISCO] Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg touted the tech firm's generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) assistant on Wednesday, telling shareholders it is used by a billion people each month across its platforms. Zuckerberg noted the milestone anew at Meta's annual gathering of shareholders and as the social media behemoth vies with Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and others to be a leader in Gen AI. It was not clear how much Meta AI use involved people seeking out the chatbot versus passive users of Meta AI, as it is built into features in its family of apps. Since Google debuted AI Overviews in search results a year ago, it has grown to more than 1.5 billion users, according to Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. 'That means Google Search is bringing Gen AI to more people than any other product in the world,' Pichai said. Google's AI Overviews are automatically provided summaries of search results that appear instead of the previous practice of simply showing pages of blue links to revelant websites. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Pichai said last week that Google's dedicated Gemini AI app has more than 400 million monthly users. Tech rivals are rapidly releasing new AI products despite ongoing challenges with preventing misinformation and establishing clear business models, and little sense of how the tech will affect society. Meta unveiled its first standalone AI assistant app on April 29, giving users a direct path to its Gen AI models. 'A billion people are using Meta AI across our apps now, so we made a new standalone Meta AI app for you to check out,' Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted on Instagram at the time. Zuckerberg said the app 'is designed to be your personal AI' and would be primarily accessed through voice conversations with the interactions personalised to the individual user. Use of Meta AI is growing fastest on WhatsApp, according to chief financial officer Susan Li. 'Our focus for this year is deepening the experience and making Meta AI the leading personal AI,' Zuckerberg said when Meta announced quarterly earnings at the end of April. AFP
Android Authority
38 minutes ago
- General
- Android Authority
Google confirms that Instagram battery drain you've noticed on your phones is real
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority TL;DR The Instagram app on Android was causing excessive battery drain, as users reported. Comparisons showed that lately, Instagram was using significantly more battery power than other apps with similar screen-on times. Google has acknowledged the problem and advised updating to Instagram build 382.0.0.49.84, which users say has resolved the battery drain issue. Google has confirmed that the Instagram app has been draining the battery on Android phones, something many users, including several on Reddit, have noticed lately. According to several Android users, Instagram has been consuming significantly more battery on their devices compared to other apps with similar usage. For example, one Redditor with a Samsung Galaxy A53 reported that Instagram used 12.4% of their battery during 54 minutes of screen-on time, while WhatsApp, with a comparable 49-minute screen-on time, used only 2.4%. Reddit Some users who tried installing older versions of Instagram in hopes of avoiding the battery drain noticed their phones heating up instead. Others switched to Instagram Lite and saw a noticeable improvement in battery life, further suggesting the issue lies with the main app. In response, Google has issued an advisory titled 'Battery drain on Android devices,' urging users to update Instagram. 'Starting today, Instagram is rolling out an updated app that should fix a battery drain issue on Android devices. Please make sure you have the latest version of the Instagram app (build 382.0.0.49.84) to resolve this issue,' the company said. Following the update, users are now reporting that the battery drain issue appears to be resolved.
The National
an hour ago
- Business
- The National
US judge to hear closing arguments before deciding penalty in Google antitrust case
A federal judge is set to hear closing arguments on Friday before determining how he will punish Google for illegally maintaining a search engine monopoly. The case, brought by the US government, could throw Google's expansion plans into turmoil just as it looks to strengthen its artificial intelligence offerings. District Judge Amit Mehta last year sided with the US Justice Department and ruled that Alphabet-owned Google had been illegally exploiting its dominance in the search sector to stifle competition, ultimately harming consumers with less choice. Last month, the trial moved into a second phase, with Mr Mehta listening to technology executives, economists and regulatory experts as he considers what penalty he will levy against Google. His decision could be one of the most consequential in technology regulation since 1982, when the Department of Justice broke up AT&T's monopoly through its Bell telephone system. Another landmark case came in 2000 when a judge found that Microsoft breached antitrust laws by engaging in predatory practices. The Justice Department wants Mr Mehta to enact far-reaching penalties that would be a warning to other companies. Prosecutors want Google to divest its popular Chrome browser from its portfolio, and it wants the tech giant to share coveted search data with competitors. The department also wants to end the lucrative deals arranged by Google where it pays companies such as Samsung and Apple to make Google's search tool the default option on devices. Mark MacCarthy, a senior fellow at the Institute for Technology Law and Policy at Georgetown University in Washington, has studied antitrust policy for several decades. He said Google's ubiquitous presence presents the judge with a unique challenge. Mr MacCarthy voiced concerns that a court-ordered requirement for Google to share users' search data could see companies exploit that information without people's consent. Forcing Google to share data "would require unprecedented co-operation among the courts involved", he said. 'My view is that this would be better done by a new digital regulatory agency.' Google has been pushing its own proposed remedies. These are far lighter than those proposed by the department, including a solution that would give users the ability to change their default search provider at least every 12 months. 'Our proposal allows browsers to continue to offer Google Search to their users and earn revenue from that partnership … but it also provides them with additional flexibility,' Google said, adding that it would give options to hardware sellers to make deals with other search engines. 'Browser companies like Apple and Mozilla should continue to have the freedom to do deals with whatever search engine they think is best for their users.' Google has also proposed what it described as a 'robust mechanism' to ensure that it would comply with the proposed remedy. The case playing out in Washington is not the only legal battle Google is fighting. The tech giant is appealing against part of a recent ruling that found it unfairly used its internet advertising dominance and crushed competitors. In that case, both Google and the government are trying to shape what remedy will ultimately be decided. The worst-case scenario for Google in that case could be that it is forced to spin off its advertising technology division, which would mean the loss of a significant amount of revenue for the search engine. Perhaps more importantly, whatever ensues could have ripple effects across the technology ecosystem revolving around Google. Eric Mulheim, chief financial officer of Mozilla, maker of the Firefox web browser, spoke about that shortly after testifying in the antitrust remedy trial. 'We believe the court should ensure that small and independent browsers are not harmed in any final remedies,' Mr Mulheim said, referring to Mozilla's paid partnership with Google that could be threatened by what the judge decides. 'Without this, we risk trading one monopoly for another, and the vibrant, people-first web we've spent decades fighting for could begin to fade." In a separate court filing, Mozilla pushed for a 'more tailored' approach to whatever remedies are decided on, that will not affect independent web browsers. Even with so much legal scrutiny, in terms of influence, market share and revenue, Google is still a force to be reckoned with. To regulators, that is the whole point, and the legal walls seem to be closing in. On Friday, however, both Google and the department have one more chance to influence the final decision as Mr Mehta considers closing arguments.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AI personal shoppers hunt down bargain buys
Internet giants are diving deeper into e-commerce with digital aides that know shoppers' likes, let them virtually try clothes on, hunt for deals and even place orders. The rise of virtual personal shoppers springs from generative artificial intelligence (AI) being put to work in "agents" specializing in specific tasks and given autonomy to complete them independently. "This is basically the next evolution of shopping experiences," said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino. Google last week unveiled shopping features built into a new "AI Mode". It can take a person's own photo and meld it with that of a skirt, shirt or other piece of clothing spotted online, showing how it will look on them. The AI adjusts the clothing size to fit, accounting for how fabrics drape, according to Google head of advertising and commerce Vidhya Srinivasan. Shoppers can then set the price they would pay and leave the AI to relentlessly browse the internet for a deal -- alerting the shopper when it finds one, and asking if it should buy using Google's payment platform. "They're taking on Amazon a little bit," Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said of Google. The tool is also a way to make money from AI by increasing online traffic and opportunities to show ads, Greengart added. The Silicon Valley tech titan did not respond to a query regarding whether it is sharing in revenue from shopping transactions. - Bartering bots? - OpenAI added a shopping feature to ChatGPT earlier this year, enabling the chatbot to respond to requests with product suggestions, consumer reviews and links to merchant websites. Perplexity AI late last year began letting subscribers pay for online purchases without leaving its app. Amazon in April added a "Buy for Me" mode to its Rufus digital assistant, allowing users to command it to make purchases at retailer websites off Amazon's platform. Walmart head of technology Hari Vasudev recently spoke about adding an AI agent to the retail behemoth's online shopping portal, while also working with partners to make sure their digital agents keep Walmart products in mind. Global payment networks Visa and Mastercard in April each said their technical systems were modernized to allow payment transactions by digital agents. "As AI agents start to take over the bulk of product discovery and the decision-making process, retailers must consider how to optimize for this new layer of AI shoppers," said Elise Watson of Clarkston Consulting. Retailers are likely to be left groping in the dark when it comes to what makes a product attractive to AI agents, according to Watson. - Knowing the customer - Analyst Zino does not expect AI shoppers to cause an e-commerce industry upheaval, but he does see the technology benefitting Google and Meta. Not only do the Internet rivals have massive amounts of data about their users, but they are also among frontrunners in the AI race. "They probably have more information on the consumer than anyone else out there," Zino said of Google and Meta. Tech company access to data about users hits the hot-button issue of online privacy and who should control personal information. Google plans to refine consumer profiles based on what people search for and promises that shoppers will need to authorize access to additional information such as email or app use. Trusting a chatbot with one's buying decisions may spook some people, and while the technology might be in place the legal and ethical framework for it is not. "The agent economy is here," said PSE Consulting managing director Chris Jones. "The next phase of e-commerce will depend on whether we can trust machines to buy on our behalf." tu/gc/st
Business Times
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
AI personal shoppers hunt down bargain buys
[NEW YORK] Internet giants are diving deeper into e-commerce with digital aides that know shoppers' likes, let them virtually try clothes on, hunt for deals and even place orders. The rise of virtual personal shoppers springs from generative artificial intelligence (AI) being put to work in 'agents' specialising in specific tasks and given autonomy to complete them independently. 'This is basically the next evolution of shopping experiences,' said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino. Google last week unveiled shopping features built into a new 'AI Mode'. It can take a person's own photo and meld it with that of a skirt, shirt or other piece of clothing spotted online, showing how it will look on them. The AI adjusts the clothing size to fit, accounting for how fabrics drape, according to Google head of advertising and commerce Vidhya Srinivasan. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Shoppers can then set the price they would pay and leave the AI to relentlessly browse the internet for a deal - alerting the shopper when it finds one, and asking if it should buy using Google's payment platform. 'They're taking on Amazon a little bit,' Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart said of Google. The tool is also a way to make money from AI by increasing online traffic and opportunities to show ads, Greengart added. The Silicon Valley tech titan did not respond to a query regarding whether it is sharing in revenue from shopping transactions. Bartering bots? OpenAI added a shopping feature to ChatGPT earlier this year, enabling the chatbot to respond to requests with product suggestions, consumer reviews and links to merchant websites. Perplexity AI late last year began letting subscribers pay for online purchases without leaving its app. Amazon in April added a 'Buy for Me' mode to its Rufus digital assistant, allowing users to command it to make purchases at retailer websites off Amazon's platform. Walmart head of technology Hari Vasudev recently spoke about adding an AI agent to the retail behemoth's online shopping portal, while also working with partners to make sure their digital agents keep Walmart products in mind. Global payment networks Visa and Mastercard in April each said their technical systems were modernised to allow payment transactions by digital agents. 'As AI agents start to take over the bulk of product discovery and the decision-making process, retailers must consider how to optimise for this new layer of AI shoppers,' said Elise Watson of Clarkston Consulting. Retailers are likely to be left groping in the dark when it comes to what makes a product attractive to AI agents, according to Watson. Knowing the customer Analyst Zino does not expect AI shoppers to cause an e-commerce industry upheaval, but he does see the technology benefitting Google and Meta. Not only do the Internet rivals have massive amounts of data about their users, but they are also among frontrunners in the AI race. 'They probably have more information on the consumer than anyone else out there,' Zino said of Google and Meta. Tech company access to data about users hits the hot-button issue of online privacy and who should control personal information. Google plans to refine consumer profiles based on what people search for and promises that shoppers will need to authorize access to additional information such as email or app use. Trusting a chatbot with one's buying decisions may spook some people, and while the technology might be in place the legal and ethical framework for it is not. 'The agent economy is here,' said PSE Consulting managing director Chris Jones. 'The next phase of e-commerce will depend on whether we can trust machines to buy on our behalf.' AFP
