Daily Archives: July 20, 2024

As part of the wider tech industry's wider push for AI, whether we want it or not, it seems that Google's Gemini AI service may now reading private Drive documents without express user permission, per a report from privacy activist and current Facebook Privacy Policy Director Kevin Bankston on X.com embedded below.

Update (7/16, 7:33 AM): We've updated this story with Google's response.

Bankston goes on to discuss reasons why he believes that this may be glitched for users like him in particular. And, if he is correct, the apparent lack of control being given over his sensitive, private information would be concerning. Google, however, disputes these assertions.

Our generative AI features are designed to give users choice and keep them in control of their data. Using Gemini in Google Workspace requires a user to proactively enable it, and when they do their content is used in a privacy-preserving manner to generate useful responses to their prompts, but is not otherwise stored without permission," a Google spokesperson wrote to us.

So, what exactly is going on here? Kevin Bankston has some theories, after providing much more detail in the full thread. Contrary to the initial posting, this is supposedly happening within the larger umbrella of Google Drive and not Google Docs specifically, though it seems like the issue could apply to Docs as well.

But what caused this issue? According to Google's Gemini AI, the privacy settings used to inform Gemini should be openly available, but Bankston says that they aren't.

What's more, Bankston did eventually find the settings toggle in question... only to find that Gemini summaries in Gmail, Drive, and Docs were already disabled. Additionally, it was in an entirely different place than either of the web pages to which Gemini's bot initially pointed.

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For Bankston, the issue seems localized to Google Drive, and only happens after pressing the Gemini button on at least one document. According to him, the matching document type (in this case, PDF) will subsequently automatically trigger Google Gemini for all future files of the same type opened within Google Drive. He additionally theorizes that it may have been caused by him enabling Google Workspace Labs back in 2023, which could be overriding the intended Gemini AI settings.

We heard from Google after initially publishing this article and the company pointed us to a blog post about how it protects Google Workspace data. It notes that Workspace data is not ingested or used for training and that, if the feature is enabled, content from an open doc can be summarized but is not retained. The company also suggested that Bankston may have used Gemini via the side panel in Drive and that closing the panel might solve the issue.

See the rest here:

User alleges Gemini AI scanning Google Drive hosted PDF files without explicit permission Google says otherwise - Tom's Hardware

Enlarge / Now I'm going to show you a series of photos of Pixel Folds, and you just tell me if you recognize any of them from the bank earlier today, okay?

NCC/Android Authority

Can you really call them "leaks" if, every year, Google's Pixel phones end up being sloshed all over the web for months before their official release? What volume of photos, hardware specifications, and other details constitutes a leak, rather than a quick-draining colander?

Google's Pixel 9 series of phones are expected to be launched at an event on August 13. Because those phones need to be certified by various regulators, including the Taiwanese National Communications Commission, or NCC, there are now photosso many photosof all four phones Google is expected to announce next month. The Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google's second attempt at a folding phone, have been sized, measured, rated for battery life and charging speed, and even disassembled for a look inside.

As has been suggested by Pixel 9 renders, renders of all three non-folding phones, and pictures of prototypes, the NCC pictures confirm that Google's "Pro" phone in this series is the same size as the standard model 9 but with three rear cameras and upgraded, possibly AI-friendly, specs. The NCC filings don't confirm all internal specs, such as the eye-popping 16GB of RAM seen in an earlier Pixel 9 Pro prototype. Google has previously noted that keeping certain generative models to be "RAM-resident" requires more RAM.

The potential Pixel 9 Pro XL, as seen at the Taiwanese NCC, complete with quirky "This is not Google, per se" logo remix.

NCC/Android Authority

The putative Pixel 9 Pro, disassembled to some degree.

NCC/Android Authority

The purported Pixel 9 Pro Fold, taken down to its screens, batteries, and camera holes.

NCC/Android Authority

The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro get a 4,558 mAh battery, according to NCC filings, while the 9 Pro XL packs in 4,942 mAh. That represents a very slight bump from the Pixel 8 for the Pixel 9, and about even between the Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL (which, reminder, are now the "big" phones, even if some people might consider the 6.1-inch screens on the base models not quite "small"). Charging speeds are roughly the same between the Pixel 8 and 9, as Android Authority notes, though the "big" Pixel phone jumps from roughly 27 W in the 8 series to almost 33 W on the Pixel 9 Pro XL listing.

The new Fold's battery is cited as 4,560 mAh, compared to the prior model's 4,727mAh. As noted in our review of the Pixel Fold, Google managed to fit the biggest battery in the category into it, but the category has an inherent issue with battery life. Actually using that big OLED screen for the things that make it fun to use, like watching videos or playing games, drains the battery faster than a similar experience with a tablet, which can have twice the battery cells packed in.

All four Pixel phones have Thread radio support listed, and all but the base model Pixel 9 have ultra-wideband (UWB) support noted. There's also a new Google-white-and-smooth 45 W charger submitted with these phones.

Android Authority has the best layout of photos of the Pixel 9 series made visible by the NCC. The devices seem like a lock to be debuted at the Made by Google event on August 13.

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All four of Googles Pixel 9 phones get lined up and shot (by regulators) - Ars Technica

That appears to still include the IDF. WIRED identified several Israeli government statements and documents published since 2022 that confirm the IDFs continued involvement with Project Nimbus, although they do not provide details of the tools and capabilities it uses.

For instance, a government document published on June 15, 2022, that outlines the scope of the project, says "The Ministry of Defense and the IDF will get a dedicated digital marketplace of services they can access under Project Nimbus.

In July 2022, The Intercept also reported on training documents and videos provided to Nimbus users in the Israeli government that revealed some of the specific Google technologies the contract provided access to. They included AI capabilities such as face detection, object tracking, sentiment analysis, and other complex tasks.

Official government pages old and new, both in Hebrew and English, feature the same boilerplate description of Project Nimbus. It calls the contract a multiyear and wide-ranging flagship project, led by the Government Procurement Administration in the Accountant General's Division in the Ministry of Treasury together with the National Digital Unit, the Legal Bureau in the Ministry of Finance, the National Cyber Unit, the Budget Division, the Ministry of Defense and the IDF. The statement appears on one of the main government pages about Project Nimbus, an undated news release, a 2022 cloud strategy document, and a press release from January 2023.

A version of the statement has also been posted in an Amazon guidance document about Nimbus from January 2023, and on the event page for the 2024 Nimbus Summit, a privately run event that brings together tech workers from Amazon, Google, and the dozens of other companies that have played some hand in modernizing Israels tech infrastructure in recent years.

Social media posts by Israeli officials, Amazon employees, and Google employees suggest the countrys military remains closely involved with Project Nimbusand the two US cloud companies working on it.

In June 2023, Omri Nezer, the head of the technology infrastructure unit at the Israeli Government Procurement Administration, posted a recap of a cloud conference held by the Israeli government to LinkedIn. He wrote that it was meant to bring together people from different government offices within Project Nimbus.

Nezers post mentions a panel at the conference that featured an IDF representative and the head of engineering IT for Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a defense company originally created as a research and development company for the Israeli military. The Intercept reported last month that Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, both Israeli government-backed weapons manufacturers, are obligatory customers of Google and Amazon through Project Nimbus. Amazon spokesperson Duncan Neasham tells WIRED that Rafael is not required to use AWS or Google only for cloud services and can also use other cloud providers services.

National security agencies remain an important part of Project Nimbus. In a 2023 LinkedIn post tagged #nimbus, Omri Holzman, defense team lead at Amazon Web Services, summarized a recent event AWS put on for defense customers. We had attendees from each security organization in Israel, Holzman wrote, without specifying which agencies. AWS puts a lot of focus on the National Security (NatSec) community which has its unique needs and requirements.

Here is the original post:

The Hidden Ties Between Google and Amazons Project Nimbus and Israel's Military - WIRED

We've heard of Google developing a "Satellite OS" for Pixels for a while now, but a discovery shows it might cost you.

With enrolled testers getting their hands on Android 15's latest beta, Android Authority discovered something interesting about Pixel's SOS feature. Through an APK dive, it was seen that Google might charge users for its Satellite OS services after a brief free period.

A string in the code states, "Satellite SOS is included at no charge for two years." It seems that Google is eyeing an approach similar to Apple and its emergency services, which are also free for the initial two years.

Other information in the code details the Pixel Satellite SOS feature more by stating, "your name, email, phone number, location, device information, and emergency contact information" will be shared with 911. That data is given to satellite service providers, as well.

One final sentence within Android 15's code mentions updating your Pixel to receive support for the SOS function. This is an occurrence older Pixels, like the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, will likely see as the emergency service is coming with Android 15. By extension, the Pixel 9 series should have it ready and waiting.

Concrete information regarding how much Google intends to charge (if it does) for its SOS service is unknown.

The past few Android 15 betas have held informative insights into what Google has planned for its SOS feature, such as its UI. Early walkthroughs were discovered, showing that users will be prompted to gain a "clear view of the sky" before activating their SOS services. Users will then need to locate the appropriate satellite through the on-display animation.

Get the latest news from Android Central, your trusted companion in the world of Android

Users can retain text-based contact with their family and 911 services after enabling the emergency SOS feature within the settings.

In other news, Android 15 Beta 4 was released for enrolled testers yesterday (July 18) and pushes us ever closer to a full OS launch. One of its key changes was a switch from PNG-based emoji fonts to a vector format. Technically speaking, this ensures your emojis scale in size without sacrificing quality and becoming distorted or blurred.

Android 15's Private Spaces were in the spotlight once again alongside better app activity management. It seems the software can better allocate its resources to keep apps active only when prompted by the user.

Excerpt from:

Google's Pixel 'Satellite SOS' is useful and it might just cost you to keep it - Android Central

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR

How important to you is how your phone sounds? No, we dont mean the audio quality from its speakers (although that can be pretty important), but who youre talking to when youre interacting with your phones virtual assistant. Google Assistant lets you choose from between a dozen different voice profiles, with two new ones introduced just last year. But so far, with Googles new Gemini AI, youve only had a single voice to talk to. Now that situation is finally changing.

We first caught wind of development heading in this direction about a month ago, when we discovered Google working on a new settings option for its Android app. While it wasnt functional at the time, it appeared that Google was planning to give users the ability to choose between two voices and notably, this was all distinct from Assistant voice settings. Although this new addition being related to Gemini wasnt a slam dunk, it certainly seemed like one of the best theories we had at the time.

Fast-forward to today, and 9to5Google noticed that Gemini is suddenly speaking with a new voice. While Gemini sounded male before, the new voice is distinctly female. Were not sure if Google has pushed this change out universally, or is testing it in a more limited fashion, but we can confirm that we can hear Gemini using its new voice on our Android phones.

The ability to choose between multiple voices isnt a huge-huge deal, but its the sort of quality of life improvement that might get more users enthusiastic about giving Gemini a shot in the first place; right now the apps on-boarding is very much dominated by heres the Assistant stuff youre giving up, and just having the familiarity of being able to choose your preferred response voice could smooth that over the smallest bit. We dont know if we need another dozen to feel satisfied, but a couple more options (and definitely the ability to actively choose between them) couldnt hurt.

See the article here:

Google Gemini tries out a second voice - Android Authority

Google has confirmed in a teaser video that its upcoming line of smartphones includes a new foldable model. The company called the Pixel 9 Pro Fold a "foldable phone built for the Gemini era" in its promo tweet, and it even focused on its gen AI chatbot in the video. Similar to the non-foldable Pixel 9 Pro, this model also has a prominent camera bump. Its lenses are arranged vertically near one side of the phone, so the camera bump is mostly there and doesn't take up the whole width of the folded device.

While Google has yet to formally unveil the model, a previous leak, courtesy of Android Authority, has already revealed a lot of details about the upcoming Pixel 9 models. Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC) uploaded galleries of each phone Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL and 9 Pro Fold to its archives. Some of those photos feature an unfolded 9 Pro Fold, showing how Google moved its selfie camera to the inside screen for a wider field of view. They also show that the model has a reduced fold crease on the display, which measures 250mm or just under 10 inches.

The NCC's leak revealed that the upcoming devices need bigger chargers, as well. Their charging rates are generally faster than previous models based on the agency's tests, though the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was the slowest of them all. We'll be able to confirm those details when Google launches its new smartphones at the next Made by Google event that's happening on August 13.

More here:

Google confirms the Pixel 9 Pro Fold with a teaser video - Engadget

Google appears to be showing its AI-generated search results less often in recent weeks, according to a recent study from an SEO company.

The data, collected by BrightEdge and reported on by Search Engine Land, suggests that AI Overviews dropped from appearing in 11 percent of queries on June 1st to 7 percent of queries on June 30th. BrightEdges data also indicates that AI Overviews cite Reddit and Quora dramatically less than they did before.

Since the launch of AI Overviews in May, Google has had to make changes to address bizarre results like recommending that you put glue on pizza (which appears to have been pulled from a Reddit thread) and suggesting that you eat rocks (seemingly pulled from an article in The Onion). In response, Google defended AI Overviews but said it had implemented adjustments, such as limiting the use of user-generated content in AI Overviews and adding better tools to detect nonsensical queries that shouldnt get AI Overviews.

Google spokesperson Ashley Thompson tells The Verge that the findings do not reflect what weve seen and criticized the studys methodology. Thompson also says BrightEdges study appears to mix users who have opted in to AI Overviews & More as part of Googles experimental Search Labs features and those who havent. (People who have opted in to AI Overviews in Search Labs will see them on more search results, according to Thompson.) BrightEdge only tracks users who have opted in to AI Overviews, BrightEdge founder and executive Jim Yu says in a statement provided to The Verge after we first published this article.

AI Overviews are an important initiative for Google. If people dont like or trust them, they might turn to products from competitors like Microsoft, OpenAI, and Perplexity instead, which could be a big loss for the search engine. Google is bullish on AI Overviews CEO Sundar Pichai said that people are responding very positively to AI Overviews in a May interview with editor-in-chief Nilay Patel but the company is still doing some fine-tuning.

We designed AI Overviews to appear for queries where theyre helpful and provide value beyond existing features on the results page, and they continue to show for a large number of searches, Thompson says. As weve shared, were continuing to refine when and how we show AI Overviews so theyre as useful as possible, including a number of recent technical updates to improve response quality.

Update, July 17th: Added new information from BrightEdge.

See the rest here:

Googles AI results are showing up less frequently, a study found - The Verge

Google is slated to hold a surprisingly early Pixel smartphone event on August 13. The company has released a teaser video for the occasion, showing what appears to be a big new camera bump on the Pixel 9 Pro.

Google’s 30-second teaser video for the Pixel 9 Pro shows some interesting details. Some of it is entirely unsurprising, like that the device will heavily utilize Google’s Gemini AI technology. That makes perfect sense.

What’s more surprising is that the Pixel 9 Pro will feature a different design sporting a big camera bump on the back. While Google hasn’t shared any information about what kind of cameras will be in its upcoming flagship smartphone, given that the camera module is larger, it stands to reason that there will be something new about the Pixel 9 Pro’s camera technology.

Google has also shared a teaser video for its new flagship folding smartphone, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This latest teaser opens with the same Gemini AI graphics as the other teaser before the Pixel 9 Pro Fold opens up.

Beyond the naming change from Pixel Fold to Pixel 9 Pro Fold, bringing the upcoming handheld more in line with Google’s conventional Pixel naming conventions, the device also gets a new camera module with a revised stacked design.

The screens are simulated in the teaser video, but Google seems to have focused on making the hinge less noticeable when in use. The entire design just looks more polished and sleek.

Hopefully, the new camera system is a step up, too, as it is one of the weaker aspects of last year’s Pixel Fold device. The big struggle so far for most folding phones has been offering feature and performance parity in terms of camera features, with most foldables falling short of their maker’s best traditional “slab” phones.

Mobile photographers need not wait long to learn more about Google’s camera changes in the Pixel 9 family of smartphones. The Google Pixel event will begin on August 13 at 1 PM ET (10 AM PT).

Image credits: Google unless otherwise noted

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The First Look at the Google Pixel 9 Pros Much Bigger Camera Bump - PetaPixel

Google today provided a very good look at the Pixel 9 Pro and is continuing to tease this upcoming device as magical thanks to Gemini.

The 30-second video humorously has Gemini write a breakup letter to your Dear old phone. Google is again focusing on how the Pixel 9 series actually feels magical and how its not just the same old thing.

We reported this week that the Pixel 9 Pro might come with 1-year of Gemini Advanced. Meanwhile, it should be the first phone to feature Gemini Nano with Multimodality.

No longer shrouded in shadows, we then see the Pixel 9 Pro in Porcelain with Oh hi, AI as the tagline. Note the matte/grainy texture off the camera bar, while we see a glimpse of the shiny side rails.

Google also shared a handful of other shots of the device. The Google Store teases a whole new era of phones with a prominent button to Chat with Gemini on the Pixel 9 Pro page that just opens gemini.google.com.

The Pixel 9 Pro will be announced at Made by Google 2024 on August 13.

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Google teases Pixel 9 Pro as a phone built for the Gemini era [Video] - 9to5Google

Donald Trump's vice-presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance, adds a former venture capitalist to the GOP ticket for the 2024 presidential election.

It also comes as business leaders in the tech space donate to the former president.

But Vance has favored breaking up large tech companies, namely Googles parent company, Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL.

What Happened: Earlier this year, Vance tweeted: "It's time to break Google up. This matters far more than any other election integrity issue. The monopolistic control of information in our society resides with an explicitly progressive technology company.

The post came ahead of Vances attending an event for antitrust reform. The event included Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), who have been viewed as two figures looking to break up tech companies, as reported by The Verge.

"The fundamental question to me is, how do we build a competitive marketplace that is pro-innovation, pro-competition, that allows consumer to have the right choices and isn't just so obsessed on pricing power within the market that it sort of ignores all the other things that really matter?" Vance asked the audience.

At the event, Vance praised Khan, a President Joe Biden appointee. Republicans, in contrast, criticize Khan's blocking of tech deals.

"I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden administration that I actually think is doing a pretty good job," Vance said.

One of the reasons Vance is against big tech centers on the perceived control big-name companies have over what people can say and post online. Vance alleged that voters will see results on Google that could be "explicitly biased towards Democrats" and called this "a threat to democracy."

At the event, Vance targeted Google and Facebook, a unit of Meta Platforms META.

"I think that Google and Facebook have really distorted our political process. And I think a lot of my friends on the left would agree with me, but they might disagree with me directionally about how to fix that problem, he said. "We have to stop the craziness, and I think one way to do it is to stop the way that these companies control the flow of information in our country."

Read Also: Trump Picks Senator J.D. Vance As Running Mate: Musk Says Great Choice For VP

Why It's Important: While Vance has vocally called for Google to be broken up, his appointment as the running mate of Trump doesn't mean it will happen. Vice presidents don't specifically set policy and oftentimes don't have a ton of power.

Having Vance in the White House could lead to more discussion from Trump and Congress on how to break up big technology companies and improve antitrust legislation.

The public callouts against Google come as Vance is an investor in video-sharing platform Rumble Inc RUM, a company that has filed multiple lawsuits against the search engine company.

Lawsuits from Rumble have centered on favoring YouTube in search results and digital advertising practices.

Vance also counts the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ as one of his largest investments.

The U.S. Justice Department also filed a lawsuit against Google and has circled on the big technology company over antitrust concerns.

For Alphabet investors, the big question is if a breakup of the company could unlock shareholder value and be favored by some.

Needham analyst Laura Martin called Alphabet a top large-cap stock pick for 2024 and has a Buy rating.

Martin said Google is worth more in a sum of the parts than as one company and she welcomes attempts to break up the company.

"We believe the EU will ultimately require GOOGL to spin off its 3rd-party network ad business," Martin said.

Martin said breaking up Google could add 10% to 15% of upside for shareholders with YouTube potentially worth $455 billion to $634 billion on its own.

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Image: Shutterstock

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Trump's New Running Mate J.D. Vance Wants To Break Up Google: Could 2024 Election Be Bad For Big Tech? - Benzinga