Google News

Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Google announced on Wednesday it was laying off hundreds of staff. The cuts affect staff working on Google Assistant as well as members of Google’s devices and services team. Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images Google is laying off hundreds of staff working on its devices and services. The affected staff include those working on Google Assistant and the activity tracker Fitbit. AI upstarts such as OpenAI and… Source link

Turns out Google’s postpandemic reckoning didn’t just hit the Google Hardware team responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit products — it’s taken similarly sized bites out of Google’s core engineering and Google Assistant teams too. Google just confirmed to The Verge that it’s eliminated “a few hundred” roles in each of these divisions, meaning Google has confirmed layoffs of around a thousand employees on Wednesday alone, if we use a reasonable definition of “few.” And… Source link

Google is reorganizing the Devices & Services teams responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit hardware. This change was announced to employees today, and Google confirmed the changes in a statement to 9to5Google.  Previously, the Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit divisions had distinct, independent teams to handle aspects such as design, hardware engineering, software, UI, etc. Google’s hardware effort basically housed a miniature company for phones, another for smart home,… Source link

Thomas Friestad – Kansas City Business Journal 10 hours ago FILE – In this Sept. 24, 2019, file photo a sign is shown on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) Google recently bought close to 500 acres planned for data center development in Kansas City’s Northland, several miles northwest of a site where the company for years has eyed a different campus project. AG Rose Solutions LLC, an affiliate of the… Source link

Artificial intelligence is everywhere at CES 2024, from laptops and robots to baby cry translators and steak toasters, but the biggest immediate impact of generative AI (the type of AI that powers ChatGPT) might be on our phones. I had the opportunity this week in Las Vegas to chat with a Google expert about how AI could shape the future of mobile phones. Google’s Sameer Samat, general manager and vice president of Android, Google Play and Wear OS, sees advancements in AI as a big part of… Source link

Google Maps continues to work on integrating Live Activities support for iPhones, according to new assets unearthed by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris in the latest version of the app. Evidence that the feature was in development first appeared in August, but further work on it had appeared to have come to a standstill until now, suggesting it could become functional soon. The Google Maps team announced in February 2023 that it would roll out Live Activities support “in the coming… Source link

Allegations that Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) were developed using stolen designs are being put to the test as a jury trial brought against the search giant by Singular Computing kicks off this week. Google is accused of infringing patents held by Singular and developed by computer scientist Joseph Bates, an academic turned startup founder. According to his LinkedIn profile, Bates held research and teaching positions at Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Johns Hopkins… Source link

A patent dispute launched four years ago by a little-known local firm went to trial in Boston this week. And it could turn into a massive headache for internet search giant Google. The patent suit, originally filed by Cambridge-based Singular Computing in late 2019, claims that Google has violated a number of Singular’s patents related to a new kind of microprocessor that’s better than traditional microchips at running artificial intelligence systems. Singular is seeking $1.67 billion in… Source link

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Security researchers have uncovered a hack that allows cyber criminals to gain access to people’s Google accounts without needing their passwords. Analysis from security firm CloudSEK found that a dangerous form of malware uses third-party cookies to gain unauthorised access to people’s private data, and is already being actively tested by hacking groups. The exploit was… Source link

AI is already everywhere on our phones, from the tools we use to edit photos to apps for language translation. But at CES 2024, I got a glimpse into how generative AI (the flavor of AI that powers ChatGPT) could change the way we use our phones more broadly. Google’s Sameer Samat, general manager and vice president of Android, Google Play and Wear OS, sees advancements in AI as a big part of where phones are headed. We spoke in a quiet room amid jovial Android mascots dancing across a giant… Source link