Even for nonbelievers like me, the pope has become a reassuring – and all too rare – voice of moral clarity
Do you remember the early 2000s, when Silicon Valley buzzed with idealism and tech bros told us they were going to save the world? “Don’t be evil” was Google’s unofficial motto; it’s 2004 IPO prospectus declared that doing “good things for the world” was more important than “short term gains”. Mark Zuckerberg similarly wrote in Facebook’s 2012 IPO letter that the social network was “built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected”.
As was obvious to anyone paying attention, this was all performative bullshit. Nevertheless, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic about that period of time – which came to a definitive end in 2018, with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. By and large, billionaires and CEOs still cared what the hoi polloi thought of them. They were self-aware enough to realize that, even with all their billions, there’s a lot more of us than th
In the face of widespread backlash to the AI data center buildout throughout the US, Google is touting its efforts to minimize the environmental impact by actually increasing water for local communities.
The company laid out five commitments around water use in a new blog post published Wednesday, including a goal to replenish more water than it uses at its data centers by 2030. Google also said it will invest in local water infrastructure, identify alternative water sources to power its facilities, and be transparent about its water use overall.
"We're just one of dozens of players in the space," Google's global head of infrastructure a …
Read the full story at The Verge.
Online publishers are getting more control over whether their websites appear in Google's AI Search features, thanks to a UK regulatory ruling. The new conduct rule imposed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) requires Google to let website owners keep their content out of features like AI Overviews, and prevent it from being used for the "fine-tuning" of Google's AI models.
"In a world first, publishers will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews," the CMA announced. "This will put publishers, like news organizations, in a stronger position to negotiate c …
Read the full story at The Verge.
Watchdog says ‘publishers will now have effective tools to prevent content being used to power AI features in search’
Publishers will be able to opt out of their content being used to train Google’s AI models and power its search summaries, the UK competition watchdog has announced as it imposes new conduct requirements on search services.
“Publishers will now have effective tools to prevent their content being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews,” the Competition and Markets Authority said.
Continue reading...
Google's AI advancements are lagging behind competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic. The readiness of AI models is critical for maintaining a competitive edge in the tech industry. Google's flagship ...
The post M.G. Siegler: Google is lagging behind OpenAI and Anthropic, the shift to standalone AI apps is challenging, and strategic missteps could be company-destroying | Big Technology appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
HORNDAL, Sweden, June 2, 2026 — Today, Google broke ground on a new data center in Horndal. The facility, designed for off-site heat recovery, will help meet growing demand for […]
The post Google Breaks Ground on Data Center in Horndal, Sweden appeared first on AIwire.
Much like Google, Microsoft is launching its own version of OpenClaw. Microsoft Scout is an always-on assistant that integrates into Microsoft 365 apps like Outlook, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams, allowing businesses to assign a virtual assistant to employees to help with organizing calendars, expense reporting, email drafts, and much more.
Unlike Copilot that lives inside Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Scout can see and do a lot more. "This is a personal assistant, it's the first real personal assistant we've offered customers," explains Omar Shahine, corporate vice president of Microsoft Scout, in an interview with The Verge. "I think it's …
Read the full story at The Verge.
