Independent creators are exploring generative AI as a new instrument in film production. A cohort organized by Google gave ten filmmakers access to tools such as Gemini, Nano Banana Pro, and Veo, enabling them to generate visuals, effects, and entire short films that would otherwise be out of reach. The participants stress that AI serves as a facilitator rather than a replacement for creative decisions. While the technology promises cost savings and creative freedom, industry veterans warn of artistic dilution and ethical concerns, sparking a vigorous conversation about the future of cinema. Read more →

Google announced the preview release of Gemini 3.1 Pro, an upgraded version of its flagship Gemini 3 model. The new model is positioned as better at complex reasoning and problem‑solving, featuring notable gains on benchmarks such as Humanity’s Last Exam and ARC‑AGI‑2. While it shows strong improvements, the model still trails competitors on the public Arena leaderboard for text and code tasks. Gemini 3.1 Pro also underpins the latest Deep Think enhancements, signaling Google’s continued push to advance its core AI capabilities. Read more →

Redwood Materials, the battery‑recycling startup founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, has seen its energy‑storage division become its fastest‑growing unit as AI‑driven data centers surge. The company expanded its San Francisco R&D lab four‑fold to a 55,000‑square‑foot facility, now employing nearly 100 staff. A recent $425 million Series E round, led by new investor Google and existing backer Nvidia, will fund further scaling. Early customers include Crusoe, and Redwood is courting hyperscalers for projects measured in hundreds of megawatt‑hours to gigawatt‑hours, positioning the business to meet the massive power needs of modern AI computing. Read more →

Google announced the preview release of Gemini Pro 3.1, the latest iteration of its large language model. Marketed as a significant step up from Gemini 3, the new model has already posted stronger results on independent benchmarks such as Humanity's Last Exam. Brendan Foody, CEO of AI startup Mercor, highlighted the model's top placement on the APEX‑Agents leaderboard, underscoring rapid improvements in AI agents for professional tasks. The launch arrives amid intensifying competition among major AI developers, including OpenAI and Anthropic, who have also introduced new models. Read more →

Google Labs has added a new Photoshoot feature to its AI marketing platform Pomelli. The tool lets users upload a single product photo and automatically creates polished, studio‑quality images with adjusted lighting, backgrounds, and textures. Designed for small businesses and e‑commerce sellers, the feature is offered at no cost in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It includes presets for ads, social media, and marketplace listings, and can match the visual style of an existing website, making professional‑grade product photography accessible without a dedicated studio. Read more →

Google's NotebookLM tool now lets users revise individual slides with natural‑language prompts and export decks as PowerPoint‑ready PPTX files. The update aims to streamline the slide‑creation workflow by allowing targeted edits without regenerating whole decks, while also preparing for future Google Slides export support. Users are cautioned that extensive revisions may affect layout consistency, requiring manual cleanup. Read more →

India is hosting a four‑day AI Impact Summit that brings together executives from leading AI labs and Big Tech, as well as heads of state. The event, expected to attract 250,000 visitors, features appearances by Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Mukesh Ambani and Demis Hassabis, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. Highlights include a $1.1 billion state‑backed venture fund, a majority stake acquisition of AI startup Neysa by Blackstone, new funding for data‑center power solutions, and partnerships such as AMD with Tata Consultancy Services. Industry leaders warn of AI‑driven disruption in IT services while emphasizing opportunities for Indian innovators. Read more →

Google's AI Overviews, which present synthesized answers to search queries, are being weaponized by scammers who embed fraudulent phone numbers in the data the AI pulls from the web. Victims who rely on these AI‑generated contact details may call numbers that route them to impostors seeking payment or personal information. Google says it is strengthening anti‑spam protections, but experts advise users to verify any phone numbers directly on official company sites. The issue highlights broader risks of AI‑driven search results presenting unchecked information as fact. Read more →

Google has enhanced the Deep Think mode of its Gemini 3 model, enabling users to convert sketches, photos or rough concepts into ready‑to‑print 3D files. The upgrade adds procedural design tools, simulation, optimization and STL export, reducing the need for specialized CAD software and hardware. Gemini 3 Deep Think is now available to Google AI Ultra subscribers through the Gemini app and will be offered via API to companies and researchers, promising faster prototyping for hobbyists, engineers and material scientists alike. Read more →

The Walt Disney Company has issued a cease‑and‑desist letter to ByteDance, alleging that the company’s new generative‑AI tool, Seedance 2.0, incorporates Disney’s copyrighted characters without permission. Disney claims the AI model was trained on a “pirated library” of its intellectual property, citing examples that feature characters such as Spider‑Man, Darth Vader, and Peter Griffin. The dispute adds to a growing series of legal confrontations between Hollywood studios and AI developers, following earlier actions against Character.AI and Google, while Disney maintains a licensing partnership with OpenAI for the use of its content. Read more →

Google disclosed that commercially motivated actors have tried to clone its Gemini chatbot by prompting it more than 100,000 times in multiple non‑English languages. The effort, described as “model extraction,” is framed as intellectual‑property theft. The company’s self‑assessment also references past controversy over using ChatGPT data to train Bard, a warning from former researcher Jacob Devlin, and the broader industry practice of “distillation,” where new models are built from the outputs of existing ones. Read more →

OpenAI has teamed with Cerebras to run its Codex-Spark coding model on the Wafer Scale Engine 3, a chip the size of a dinner plate. The partnership aims to improve inference speed, delivering roughly 1,000 tokens per second, with higher rates reported on other models. The move reflects OpenAI’s broader strategy to reduce reliance on Nvidia by striking deals with AMD, Amazon and developing its own custom silicon. The faster coding assistant arrives amid fierce competition from Anthropic, Google and other AI firms, underscoring the importance of latency for developers building software. Read more →

Google’s Threat Tracker report reveals that hackers are conducting "distillation attacks" by flooding the Gemini AI model with more than 100,000 prompts to steal its underlying technology. The attempts appear to originate from actors in North Korea, Russia and China and are classified as model extraction attacks, where adversaries probe a mature machine‑learning system to replicate its capabilities. While Google says the activity does not threaten end users directly, it poses a serious risk to service providers and AI developers whose models could be copied and repurposed. The report highlights a growing wave of AI‑focused theft and underscores the need for stronger defenses in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Read more →

Google introduced the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol, an open standard that lets AI agents communicate directly, share data, and collaborate across applications and enterprise workflows. Built on existing web standards and OpenAPI authentication, A2A supports text, audio, and video streams while offering secure, asynchronous interactions for long‑running tasks. The protocol promises to break down silos between specialized agents, enabling richer automation in fields such as customer service, supply chain, and healthcare, though it also raises security and scalability concerns that will need further governance. Read more →

During the Super Bowl, Google presented a 60‑second Gemini commercial that framed the AI tool as a quiet helper for ordinary life. The ad, titled “New Home,” shows a mother using Gemini to visualize a new house for her son, positioning the technology as supportive rather than central. This approach contrasts sharply with the company’s earlier Olympic ad, which featured a dad asking Gemini to write a heartfelt letter and was widely seen as a misfire. The new spot reflects a broader trend of AI‑centric advertising that leans on sentimentality and practical assistance. Read more →

A Bloomberg report suggests Apple could soon allow third‑party voice‑enabled AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini to appear on the CarPlay dashboard. Siri would remain the default assistant, but users might be able to launch alternative chatbots directly from CarPlay. The change is expected in the coming months, though no exact rollout date has been confirmed. The move follows recent enhancements to Siri with generative AI and a partnership with Google to power future Siri updates, indicating Apple’s willingness to open its platforms to additional AI services. Read more →

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Oracle are pouring record capital into artificial‑intelligence infrastructure, data‑center expansion and related technologies. Amazon’s projected spend tops the list, followed closely by Google, while Microsoft, Meta and Oracle trail behind. Investors are uneasy about the size of the commitments, noting sharp stock declines for firms with the highest projected outlays. The clash between massive AI‑related capex and market comfort highlights a tension that could shape the industry’s future as companies race to secure compute resources. Read more →

Anthropic’s Claude AI platform has experienced a surge in popularity, especially during the holiday season, as developers and enterprises adopted its coding agent capabilities. The company announced the release of Opus 4.6, described as a direct upgrade with faster performance and improved precision for complex tasks. Industry leaders praised the model’s ability to handle long‑running, multistep projects without constant supervision. While Claude enjoys strong user loyalty, competitors such as OpenAI and Google are intensifying their own AI offerings, prompting Anthropic to emphasize security enhancements and a continued focus on reliable, text‑based productivity tools. Read more →

Google announced that its AI chatbot Gemini has reached 750 million monthly active users, marking a rapid surge in consumer adoption. The growth follows a prior count of 650 million users and positions Gemini ahead of Meta AI’s reported user base, though still behind ChatGPT’s estimated figures. The milestone coincides with the launch of Gemini 3, a new model touted for deeper, more nuanced responses, and the recent introduction of the Google AI Plus subscription plan. Executives highlighted the role of AI in driving broader company performance and competitive positioning in the market. Read more →

During Alphabet's fourth-quarter earnings call, executives sidestepped an analyst's question about the Google-Apple artificial‑intelligence deal that powers Siri. The company offered only a brief statement that Apple had chosen Google as its preferred cloud provider and would collaborate on next‑generation foundation models built on Gemini technology. The silence highlights Alphabet's reluctance to reveal how the partnership may affect its core AI‑focused business, even as the historic search agreement continues to generate billions in revenue for both firms. Read more →