IT News Review by Control F5 Software: Google extends AI-generated summaries to search engine results
Google extends AI-generated summaries to search engine results
Google is modernizing its AI-driven search engine summaries amid intensifying competition from smaller competitors.
The company announced on Wednesday that it will introduce Gemini 2.0 AI into its U.S.-based search engine so that it can answer more complex queries involving topics such as computer coding and math.
The AI-generated summaries will be placed above traditional web links, as part of a feature that was initially launched in May.
The latest on the iPhone Air design
Apple is expected to launch its thinnest phone yet later this year: the iPhone 17 Air. Rumors claim that the phone will be thinner than the 6.9mm iPhone 6 was, but recent news gives us an even better idea.
Rumors about the iPhone 17 Air's dimensions have varied in recent months, but a recent one puts it at just 5.5mm thick.
It'll have the same "length, width, screen size, and bases" as the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Microsoft is developing AI reasoning models to compete with OpenAI
Microsoft is developing in-house artificial intelligence reasoning models to compete with OpenAI and may sell them to developers, The Information reported Friday, citing a person involved in the initiative.
The Redmond, Washington-based company, a major supporter of OpenAI, has begun testing models from xAI, Meta and DeepSeek as potential replacements for OpenAI in Copilot, according to the report.
Researchers have discovered a "backdoor" hidden in the widely used ESP32 microchip
The ESP32 chip, found in more than a billion devices worldwide, contains undocumented vendor-specific commands that could be misused to access device memory and manipulate Bluetooth functionality.
Security experts emphasize that these commands are not directly remotely accessible without additional vulnerabilities and usually require physical access or already compromised firmware to exploit.
Manufactured by Chinese company Espressif, the ESP32 is an essential component for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity in numerous smart devices, including cell phones, computers, smart locks and medical equipment.
Gemini can now personalize its answers based on search history
Google is leveraging its biggest competitive advantage to make Gemini stand out: Search. With personalization enabled, Gemini can now automatically analyze any query to see if it can "improve" the answer with search history.
The feature is powered by Gemini's experimental Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking model and will only reference search results if its AI model deems it "useful". For example, if you ask Gemini for restaurant or travel recommendations, the chatbot will refer to your recent food-related searches to offer a suggestion.
A judge allows lawsuit against Meta over AI copyright to proceed
A federal judge is allowing an artificial intelligence copyright lawsuit against Meta to continue, despite dismissing part of the lawsuit.
In Kadrey v. Meta, the authors - including Richard Kadrey, Sarah Silverman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates - alleged that Meta infringed their intellectual property rights by using their books to train its Llama AI models and that it removed copyright information from their books to conceal the alleged infringement.Meta, meanwhile, argued that the training qualifies as fair use and argued that the case should be dismissed because the authors lack standing to sue. In court last month, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria appeared to rule against dismissing the case, but also criticized what he considered to be "overblown" rhetoric from the plaintiffs' legal teams.
Japan's service robot market expected to triple in five years
Faced with an aging population and labor shortages, Japanese companies are increasingly relying on service robots to supplement their workforces, according to Bloomberg.
Research firm Fuji Keizai estimates the country's service robot market will nearly triple by 2030 to 400 billion yen ($2.7 billion). The potential driver of this growth: the Recruit Works Institute estimates that Japan will face a labor shortage of 11 million by 2040, while a government-backed institute estimates that nearly 40% of the population will be 65 or older by 2065.
AMD launched its new Ryzen 9 X3D gaming processors on March 12
AMD launched its newest gaming-focused processors, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D. These new chips build on the success of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, considered one of the best gaming processors, by introducing 16 Zen 5 cores and second-generation 3D V-Cache technology. The added enhancements make them not only ideal for gaming, but also suitable for demanding productivity tasks such as photo editing and CAD applications.
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D model is priced at $699, with 16 cores and 32 threads, a base speed of 4.3 GHz and a boost up to 5.7 GHz. It also includes 144 MB of cache and has a TDP of 170 W.
Opera integrates agentic AI into its browser
Opera is taking a significant leap forward in artificial intelligence integration by introducing agential AI - technology that performs tasks rather than just generating content based on requests. The Norwegian company unveiled Browser Operator, an artificial intelligence-based agent designed to automate web-based tasks within the Opera browser.
According to Opera's blog post, Browser Operator understands natural language commands, leveraging the browser's local resources for processing. This artificial intelligence-based feature, backed by Opera's AI Composer Engine, efficiently executes web tasks while ensuring users remain in control. Whenever a sensitive action is required - such as filling out a form or confirming a purchase - Browser Operator pauses for user approval. In addition, users can review each step taken by the AI.
Apple's smart home hub reportedly delayed due to Siri challenges
Apple announced this week that the "more personalized" version of Siri it promised last year has been delayed - and, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, this has also delayed the launch of the company's planned smart home hub.
In a statement, Apple said that the updated Siri features, which are part of its broader Apple Intelligence suite, "will take us longer than we thought to deliver" and it now expects to launch them in the "next year."HMD unveils X1 smartphone with parental controls
Smartphones with parental controls often face a common criticism - they might appease parents, but they're rarely cool enough to win over kids. Human Mobile Devices (HMD), a Finland-based phone maker, aims to change that story with its latest release, the HMD X1.
,"At HMD, we believe that kids shouldn't have to choose between safety and having a smartphone they love," said Lars Silberbauer, Global Chief Marketing Officer of HMD."Parents have been asking for a solution that balances protection with freedom, and the HMD X1 delivers exactly that. We worked closely with families on our Better Phone project to get input on how we can create a device that looks and feels like a premium smartphone, while offering the protection parents need."
An update on Anthropic's AI platform
Anthropic has unveiled a major update to its developer platform, making AI collaboration more accessible across the entire organization - not just for technical teams.
The enhanced Anthropic platform introduces new features that allow cross-functional teams to work together on AI prompts, the instructions that shape AI responses. In addition, the platform now supports Anthropic's latest Claude 3.7 Sonnet model, equipped with advanced commands for tackling complex problems.
Apple is planning a VisionOS 3 update "packed with new features"
While we won't get a new Apple Vision Pro in 2025, as some may have hoped, Bloomberg reports that Apple is planning a "feature-packed release" of visionOS 3 this year at WWDC.
According to Mark Gurman, a second-generation version of the Vision Pro with a new M-series chip is still in the works, as well as cheaper versions of the headset. However, none of these assets will materialize in 2025, despite the fact that the current generation of the headset is still using the M2 chipset from 2022.
Summary made with the help of a monitoring feed provided by Control F5 Software.
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