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The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia, celebrated the platform’s 25th anniversary by announcing new partnerships with several leading technology and AI companies. In a news release issued Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, the foundation shared that Ecosia, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Perplexity , Pleias, and ProRata have joined existing tech partners — including Amazon, Google, and Meta — to support Wikipedia’s sustainability. Wikipedia And The AI Age Under the agreements, partner companies will be able to access content from Wikimedia projects at customized volumes and speeds, notes the release. The partnerships are part of Wikimedia Enterprise, a program that allows companies to pay for structured access to Wikipedia’s data to develop and train AI models. “Wikipedia shows that knowledge is human, and knowledge needs humans. Especially now, in the age of AI, we need the human-powered knowledge of Wikipedia more than ever,” Selena Deckelmann, Wikimedia...
Google has been hiring “tons” of workers without college degrees, according to its co-founder. Google co-founder Sergey Brin is a Stanford University graduate who studied computer science, according to Fortune. Various students have also flocked to pursue their college studies in that field, as they’ve been told it will provide a good salary. However, those promises have looked more bleak of late. Forbes notes that 170,000 undergraduates majored in the field in 2024, which was double that of a decade before, and that those students are now facing some of the highest unemployment rates (6.1%). The outlet also points out that there aren’t many six-figure starting salaries in big tech anymore. And though AI has raised concerns for many graduates, Brin suggests, per Fortune, that it doesn’t mean people should steer clear of pursuing their studies. “I wouldn’t go off and switch to comparative literature because you think the AI is good at coding,” he said, according to Fortune. “The AI...
Google Gemini is becoming more personalized with a new feature that tailors chatbot responses using data from users’ connected apps. Josh Woodward, Google’s vice president of Google Labs, Gemini, and AI Studio, announced the opt-in feature — called Personal Intelligence — in a blog post on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. The update allows Gemini to draw on information from apps such as Gmail, YouTube , Google Search, and Google Photos to deliver more relevant and contextual responses. “Personal Intelligence has two core strengths: reasoning across complex sources and retrieving specific details from, say, an email or photo to answer your question,” per the blog post. “It often combines these, working across text, photos, and video to provide uniquely tailored answers.” How Personal Intelligence Works In the blog post, Woodward shared several examples of how his “daily life has gotten easier” since using Personal Intelligence. In one instance, he asked Gemini for help buying new tires for...
Character.AI and Google have agreed to settle a lawsuit regarding a 14-year-old’s suicide. Character.AI was founded by former Google engineers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas in 2021, and the platform allows millions of users to create and chat with AI characters that can simulate a friend, a girlfriend, or another intimate partner, according to The New York Times. The platform has secured $200 million in investments, and Google has also paid the company nearly $3 billion to license Character.AI’s technology, with the founders returning to their posts at Google. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III developed a romantic attachment to a Character.AI chatbot with the likeness of the “ Game of Thrones ” character Daenerys Targaryen. The attachment was described as toggling between platonic and romantic. Various messages were exchanged , and Setzer became increasingly disconnected from the real world, even losing interest in activities he once enjoyed such...
The Justice Department is looking closely into the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives of major U.S. companies, Reuters reports. Google and Verizon are among the companies being investigated for their diversity initiatives in hiring and promotions. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Verizon publicly announced that it planned to remove references to DEI from its website and training materials. Additionally, it claimed it would be removing its internal human resources team focused on diversity policies and would no longer offer bonuses or set goals to increase the representation of women and minority employees. “We are committed to creating a culture that leverages and values each person’s unique strengths and talents,” Verizon Chief Legal Officer Vandana Venkatesh said in a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on May 15. “However, we recognize that the regulatory and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’)...
Has the time finally arrived to change the user address of a Google email account? The tech giant shared a hopeful update just in time for the holidays. The New York Times reports that, although users had previously been able to change their email usernames, if they wanted to keep their data and services such as Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Play, or Google Drive, the address had to remain unchanged. Some users have now been able to change the address for all their accounts ending in @gmail.com, while still having access to their data, such as photos, messages, and emails, unlike before. The feature is not available to all users yet. It appears only on the Hindi-language version of Google’s support page, suggesting it may be available first in India or Hindi-speaking markets for now, according to CNBC. “The ability to change your Google Account email address is gradually rolling out to all users, so this option may not be available to you right now,” according to an English...
Google has unveiled a new project that will reduce the environmental impact of AI on Earth. The tech company unveiled Project Suncatcher, which aims to launch data centers in space powered by solar energy, Business Insider reports. Google is exploring bringing the project to life through a web of solar-powered satellites, equipped with its Tensor Processing Unit AI chips, according to a press release. The project aims to “one day scale machine learning in space.” “Inspired by other Google moonshots like autonomous vehicles and quantum computing, we’ve begun work on the foundational work needed to one day make this future possible,” notes the press release. Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that the company plans to launch the space data centers by 2027. “We’ll send tiny, tiny racks of machines, and have them in satellites, test them out, and then start scaling from there,” Pichai said, according to Business Insider. “At Google, we’re always proud of taking moonshots. One of our...
Google is making it easier for anyone with a Gmail account to create polished, AI-powered videos through its Google Vids product. According to a Nov. 17 blog post from the tech company, advanced Gemini features, previously limited to paid users, are now available to all, letting creators add AI-generated voiceovers, trim silences and filler words, and enhance visuals with built-in AI image editing. To help users get started, Google has released a series of instructional videos on YouTube. One introduction video shows how teams can use the platform for training materials, customer-facing content, project updates, recruiting, and marketing communications. Casual users can also create personalized videos, from vacation highlights to birthday greetings, without needing advanced editing skills, as the blog post notes. According to the same video, Google Vids can be accessed through the Google Apps launcher in Gmail, the “New” button in Google Drive, or by visiting vids.google.com. Typing...
Perplexity AI has released its artificial intelligence-powered browser, Comet, worldwide. The browser is now being offered for free after initially being available only to paid subscribers, CNBC reports. According to the outlet, Comet was first introduced in July. At that time, access was limited to Perplexity Max subscribers at a monthly cost of $200. The company stated that a waitlist of millions had formed before the broader rollout was announced. The browser is designed to serve as a personal digital assistant. Users are able to search the web, organize tabs, draft emails, and shop directly within the browser. According to CNBC, these functions are powered by AI technology intended to simplify everyday online activities. The decision to release Comet for free comes amid growing competition in AI-powered browsers in 2025. Google added Gemini to Chrome in September, Anthropic introduced a browser-based AI agent in August, and OpenAI unveiled Operator in January. CNBC notes that...
AI data centers that continue to pop up across the United States are driving power costs to record highs — and consumers are left bearing the burden. According to Bloomberg, Kevin Stanley, a blind Baltimore resident living on disability benefits, says his electric bill has surged about 80% over the past three years — despite living over an hour from northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley.” As a result, Stanley has found himself stretching supplies for his diabetes and sleep apnea, and occasionally relies on food banks to cut costs. “They can say this is going to help with AI, but how is that going to help me?” Stanley said, Bloomberg reported. “How’s that going to help me pay my bill?” Connor Waldoch, co-founder of Grid Status, an energy data analytics platform, says the surge in electricity demand from data centers is driving up utility bills, adding to the strain of rising costs for food, housing, and other essentials. How AI Data Centers Are Driving Up Energy Costs A Bloomberg...
Google has laid off hundreds of contractors working on its AI products, WIRED reports. The tech giant has been outsourcing work related to evaluating, editing, or rewriting its Gemini chatbot to improve the technology’s intelligence and make it sound more human. WIRED reports that thousands of contractors were tapped for this work from companies including Hitachi-owned GlobalLogic. Most of the work was based in the U.S., and the requirements for these roles include holding a master’s or a Ph.D., and experience as a writer, teacher, or creative. The outlet states that GlobalLogic employed “generalist raters” to assist with Google’s search results. In spring 2023, Google allegedly contacted the company to recruit “super raters” to help with its products, starting with AI Overviews. “We as raters play an incredibly vital role, because the engineers, between messing with the code and everything, they’re not going to have the time to fine-tune and get the feedback they need for the bot....
Recent reports suggested that Google issued a broad warning to all 2.5 billion Gmail users following a hack of Salesforce by the group ShinyHunters (also tracked as UNC6040). Those reports, however, were inaccurate. Google clarified in a statement that no widespread Gmail security breach has occurred, and its protections remain highly effective, blocking more than 99.9% of phishing and malware attempts. While attackers continue to look for ways to infiltrate inboxes, including exploiting publicly available or leaked business information, Gmail’s security measures remain strong, the company states. “Security is such an important item for all companies, all customers, all users — we take this work incredibly seriously,” Google said in a statement. “Our teams invest heavily, innovate constantly, and communicate clearly about the risks and protections we have in place. It’s crucial that conversation in this space is accurate and factual,” the statement continued. The Salesforce breach,...
Google has issued an urgent warning to all Gmail users after a major third-party breach exposed billions of individuals to potential cyberattacks , Geek Spin reports. While Google says its own systems remain secure, the incident shows how stolen data from other platforms can be exploited to target Gmail accounts. The alert follows a breach of Salesforce’s cloud platform, which has left users of Google services more vulnerable to attacks. According to a Google Cloud blog post, Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) first spotted these attacks in June. Hackers used social engineering tactics, such as posing as IT support staff, to trick users into sharing their login credentials. By August, the attackers had already carried out multiple “successful intrusions” using accessed passwords, Geek Spin reports. While the stolen information was initially considered “basic and largely publicly available business data,” Google warned that it is now being used for more damaging purposes. The...
Google has revealed that each text prompt given to its Gemini AI apps uses about 0.24 watt-hours of electricity — roughly the same as watching TV for less than nine seconds. As concerns grow about AI’s environmental impact, Google released a detailed technical report via blog post on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, estimating the energy use , water consumption and carbon emissions per prompt. The report — which is the most transparent disclosure yet from a leading tech company — offers a long-awaited insight into AI’s energy use, detailing the amount of power consumed by AI chips and their supporting infrastructure. “We wanted to be quite comprehensive in all the things we included,” Jeff Dean, Google’s chief scientist, told the MIT Technology Review. The MIT Technology Review reports that Google’s custom AI chips take up 58% of the .24 watt-hours of electricity. The remaining energy goes to supporting equipment: CPUs and memory use 25%, backup systems 10% and data center overhead — like...
In a blog post, Google and Stephen Curry announced a long-term strategic partnership on Aug. 20, 2025, teaming up across the Google Pixel 10, Health, and Cloud to drive innovation and enhance personal well-being through technology. Curry, a long-time Google supporter, has a history of collaborations with the company dating back to 2015. As Google’s new Performance Advisor, he will actively shape the future of Google Health and Fitbit products and features. “Stephen’s ethos around health is holistic – it’s all interrelated (fitness, sleep, mental wellness), which is aligned with Google’s vision for the future of health,” it was said in information provided to AFROTECH™. With the partnership, Curry collaborates directly with Google’s health and AI engineers to fine-tune products, train algorithms, and craft next-generation health experiences. Off the court, the four-time NBA champion uses Google Cloud’s AI to analyze shot quality, improve his training strategy, and guide business...