Google used its I/O 2026 developer conference to put AI front and center, announcing what it called the biggest upgrade to its Search box in more than 25 years.

The company’s reimagined Search experience adds AI agents, AI Mode updates, a smarter Search box, and more generative results that can answer questions, build interfaces, and help users complete tasks from inside Google.

From the AI-powered Search box, users will be able to search across text, images, files, videos, and Chrome tabs, which will allow Search to connect those inputs in a single query. Continue reading “Google Overhauls Search Experience With AI Agents” →

Apple and Google are working to integrate age verification into their mobile devices, while state lawmakers push to make such checks mandatory. Right now, age checks for various services are handled in a piecemeal fashion by individual websites and apps.

Under the new system, the digital hardware itself will become a virtual gatekeeper, determining which apps its owner can access and how much personal data it will disclose.

These changes are already underway, with Apple and Google having built tools that alert apps to the user’s age range through their respective app stores.

Louisiana is now positioned to become the first state where that new model will go into effect, starting July 1, 2026. Continue reading “Age Verification Is Coming to Your Phone, Turning Devices Into Gatekeepers” →

A new class-action lawsuit claims OpenAI’s ChatGPT website used tracking tools embedded in the site to share users’ query topics and identifying information with Meta and Google. As more and more people turn to AI chatbots for everything from sensitive questions about personal problems to financial concerns, the case is raising fresh questions about how private those interactions really are.

The complaint, filed on May 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleges that OpenAI disclosed query topics and Facebook-linked identifiers to Meta, while Google allegedly received query topics, user IDs, and hashed email addresses through Google Analytics.

The plaintiff, California resident Amargo Couture, says she used ChatGPT in 2025 and 2026 to ask about “sensitive information about her health, finances, and other private information.” Continue reading “ChatGPT Feels Private, but a New Lawsuit Claims It Shared Query Topics & User Data With Meta & Google” →

Google used this year’s The Android Show: I/O Edition to explain its ambitious vision for Android. It’s a not-too-distant future where the operating system becomes “a smarter, more proactive” AI layer across phones, browsers, cars, watches, and laptops.

That future will revolve around Gemini Intelligence, a new set of features that Google says it will start rolling out this summer on the latest Samsung Galaxy and Pixel phones. It’ll arrive on other Android devices later this year. Continue reading “Google Wants Android to Become an AI Operating System” →

eBay has rejected GameStop’s unsolicited $55.5 billion takeover bid. In a statement on May 12, the company said GameStop’s offer was “neither credible nor attractive.”

GameStop had offered to buy the online marketplace for $125 per share in a half-cash, half-stock deal, saying its retail network would give eBay “a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live commerce.”

In its rejection letter, eBay made clear it wasn’t impressed with GameStop’s plan, poking holes in the company’s financing while also pointing out the risks of merging the two companies. eBay also questioned the proposed leadership structure. Continue reading “eBay Rejected GameStop’s Bid but the Bigger Idea Behind It Isn’t Going Away” →