Exclusive: Workers sign petitions over applications of AI by governments for defence and intelligence, and vote to unionise
Google DeepMind has agreed to enter formal talks with UK tech workers that could lead to trade union representation, in a groundbreaking move that comes amid growing staff concerns about the use of its AI by the US and Israeli governments’ defence and intelligence.
The artificial intelligence arm of the multi-trillion dollar Google empire, led by the Nobel prize winner Demis Hassabis, has agreed to meet the Communications Workers Union and Unite at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) after several hundred workers based at its London headquarters earlier this month voted to unionise.
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Some ads will have chatbots built in. | Image: Google
Google's AI-powered Search era apparently also extends to its ads. Now, when you search for a product, Google's Gemini AI chatbot will surface relevant items and generate a "custom explainer" about why you should purchase a specific one.
The update comes just one day after Google revealed a new Search box for larger, more conversational queries, along with a focus on AI-generated results. In an example shared by Google, someone searching for a "compact espresso pod machine" might see a Nespresso Vertuo Up under a "Sponsored Product" label, alongside an AI-generated description saying:
For a quality machine, look for capsule compatibility …
Read the full story at The Verge.
Despite public opposition, US exploration of CBDC infrastructure suggests inevitable adaptation to global digital finance trends.
The post US officials quietly study CBDC infrastructure despite Trump opposition, says former CFTC chief appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
The US-Iran war continues to linger with the two countries yet to reach a deal, and US President Donald Trump is threatening new strikes against Iran. Amid this, Iran has moved to launch a Bitcoin-backed service as it looks to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. U.S.-Iran War In Focus Amid Trump’s Threat and New Bitcoin Service According to a Reuters report, US President Donald Trump has threatened that a new US attack on Iran could happen in the coming days if both sides fail to reach a deal. This came amid his revelation that he was close to ordering a strike against Iran earlier this week before postponing following pleas from leaders of the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Notably, the US-Iran war is now approaching the three-month mark, with a peace deal yet to be reached. Related Reading: Donald Trump Abandons Meme Coins In Favor Of These Indirect Bitcoin Exposure Vehicles The major contention remains Iran’s nuclear program, which the country has so far refused to give. Mean
Google has released Gemini 3.5 Flash, a new AI model built for coding and AI agents. It is now generally available in the Gemini API, and Google says it is made for long tasks, agent workflows, and fast coding loops. The main idea is simple. Google wants Gemini to move beyond basic chatbot answers. With […]
For years, tech companies have promised AI will give everyone a capable personal assistant but delivered something more like a clueless intern. Over the past six months, that has started to change, thanks largely to the viral open-source AI agent platform OpenClaw. And among the top AI labs now chasing similar success, one seems particularly well-poised to make agents succeed at a large scale: Google.
At I/O 2026, Google announced new AI agents for gathering information, planning events, summarizing your inbox and calendar, and more. The agents can run continuously in the background, and the company claims they'll seamlessly integrate into …
Read the full story at The Verge.
Google is recasting its enterprise AI roadmap around autonomous systems and AGI, with DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis telling I/O attendees the industry now sits at the “foothills of the singularity.”
“When we look back at this time, I think we all realise that we were standing in the foothills of the singularity,” Hassabis said in his speech at Google I/O. “It will be a profound moment for humanity.”
The remarks capped a keynote spanning AI agents, cybersecurity systems, scientific research tools, coding platforms, and simulations — suggesting Google increasingly views AI not as standalone enterprise features, but as a broader operational platform capable of executing complex tasks across environments.
“AGI is now on the horizon, and it will be the most profound and impactful technology ever invented,” Hassabis said. “If built right, it could propel human progress and flourishing beyond our imaginations.”
While terms such as AGI and singularity have historically remained largely confined
Google has launched Gemini 3.5 Flash, a new AI model designed to support agentic workflows across its products and enterprise platforms, as the company looks to move generative AI beyond chatbot-style interactions and deeper into business operations.
The model, announced at the annual Google I/O developer conference, is available through the Gemini app, AI Mode in Google Search, Google Antigravity, the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Android Studio, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, and Gemini Enterprise.
In a blog post, Google said Gemini 3.5 Flash is built for tasks including software development, financial document preparation, customer onboarding, OCR, tax workflows, and data diagnostics.
Google also sought to position the model as a faster alternative to larger flagship systems. It described Gemini 3.5 Flash as its strongest model yet for agentic and coding tasks, claiming it outperforms Gemini 3.1 Pro on benchmarks including Terminal-Bench 2.1, GDPval-AA, and MCP Atlas.
The co
With Google’s annual I/O gala in full force this week, Gemini and AI are taking center stage and being presented as the future of practically everything.
Here in the land of Android, though, Gemini’s been quietly competing for attention with another relatively youthful on-demand assistant — and that’s a far less in-your-face feature called Circle to Search.
Circle to Search is essentially an instant portal to the even less widely known Android Google Lens setup, which has been serving up genuinely practical real-world advantages for Android device-owners in the know for years now — since way back before the word “Gemini” had any Googley meaning.
And whether you also adore Gemini or find it to be more hype than help, it’s well worth your while to dig into Circle to Search — or maybe just revisit its potential, if you’d perhaps explored it briefly early on and then forgotten about it — to see what it can do for you.
Here, specifically, are 10 simple but supremely useful ways Circle to Se