Wednesday, May 20Wednesday, May 20Google is expanding its search engine capabilities with AI-driven autonomous agents, powered by the newly announced Gemini 3.5 model. These agents will allow users to delegate tasks such as booking restaurant tables directly through Google Search, marking a shift toward more proactive and interactive AI assistance. The updates, unveiled at Google’s annual I/O conference, aim to make search queries more conversational and human-like, integrating chatbot interactions seamlessly into the search experience .
The company is also reintroducing smart glasses as part of its broader AI strategy, positioning these devices as tools for everyday consumers to create and interact with autonomous AI agents. CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized that the Gemini model’s advancements are designed to close the competitive gap with rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI, signaling Google’s push to maintain dominance in AI-driven services .
The broader AI investment landscape remains volatile, with concerns that the IPOs of major AI companies may primarily shift risk to retail investors rather than drive sustainable growth. Meanwhile, the competition for top AI talent intensifies, as seen with [Andrej Karpathy—a](en.wikipedia.org) former OpenAI and Tesla AI leader—joining Anthropic to advance its Claude model’s pre-training capabilities, further highlighting the race to automate AI development .
Google Search can soon book restaurant tables for you Google has unveiled a proactive expansion of its search engine, enabled by a new version of its Gemini language model. The first upgrade rolls out on Tuesday, with more updates to follow. Using this model, users can set up an AI agent to independently perform tasks on their behalf, such as booking a restaurant table. […]
cphpost · about 18 hours ago
The impossible maths of the AI boom The IPO of big sector companies is probably nothing more than a transfer of investment risk to retail investors
financial times · about 19 hours ago
Big Europe and Asian private equity health funds merge to defy AI disruption Global Healthcare Opportunities and CBC Group say $21bn investment manager will be worlds largest in sector
financial times · about 19 hours ago
Google announces glasses are back and search is getting an AI makeover At annual I/O conference, company debuts a product for everyday consumers to create autonomous AI agentsGoogle announced Tuesday that it would expand its iconic search bar, the centerpiece of the most-visited website in the world, with a heavy dose of artificial intelligence. The tech giant is also trying its hand at hi-tech glasses again, more than a decade after wearers of its first eyewear were dubbed glassholes and laughed out of San Francisco.Google executives announced at the companys annual conference for software developers, Google I/O, that its search box would accommodate longer and more specific queries than before – questions more like those people would ask one another than Searchs idiosyncratic syntax. The changes will direct users to engage directly with Googles chatbot. The change to search is underpinned by the companys new artificial intelligence model, Gemini 3.5, announced the same day. Continue reading...
theguardian · about 23 hours ago
Google to release smart glasses and add AI agents to search engine CEO Sundar Pichai says features powered by new Gemini model will close gap with Anthropic and OpenAI
financial times · 1 day ago
Google debuts AI model as it comes under pressure from coding rivals CEO Sundar Pichai says new Gemini model closes gap with Anthropic and OpenAI
financial times · 1 day ago
OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy joins Anthropic Andrej Karpathy, one of the best-known AI researchers in the world and a founding member of OpenAI, announced Tuesday that hes joining rival AI lab Anthropic.Why it matters: The hire is a major coup for Anthropic in the high-stakes competition for elite AI talent — and another sign the company is emerging as a magnet for some of the industrys most respected technical minds.Driving the news: Karpathy will start this week on Anthropics pre-training team, which is responsible for the massive training runs that give Claude its core knowledge and capabilities, according to Anthropic.Karpathy will help launch a new team focused on using Claude itself to accelerate pretraining research — an increasingly important frontier as AI companies race to automate parts of AI development.I think the next few years at the frontier of LLMs will be especially formative. I am very excited to join the team here and get back to R&D, Karpathy said in a post on X. Between the lines: Karpathy is a rare AI figure with credibility across research, industry and education.He was a founding member of OpenAI before serving as Teslas director of AI, where he led the computer vision team behind Autopilot.Karpathy coined the term vibe coding and recently described himself as being in a state of AI psychosis since December — embracing tokenmaxxing and aggressively stress-testing frontier models.Zoom out: Since leaving Tesla in 2022, Karpathy has become one of AIs most influential public educators, building a massive following through technical explainers and educational content on YouTube and X.He said Tuesday that he remains deeply passionate about education and plans to return to that work in time.The bottom line: The AI race is often framed around massive funding rounds and scarce computing power. Just as important is the fierce competition for the small pool of researchers — like Karpathy — capable of advancing the frontier.
axios · 1 day ago
French AI giant acquires startup co-founded by Latvian entrepreneur French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI has agreed to acquire Austrian startup Emmi AI, an industrial engineering technology firm co-founded by Latvian entrepreneur Miks Miksons.
intellinews · 1 day ago
Stockpicker Nick Train receives £9mn payout despite plunge in profits Investors pull money from groups funds as asset manager fails to beat stock market for fifth year in succession
financial times · 1 day ago
COMMENT: What to expect from the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum The fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF) will take place on June 16–18, 2026 just as the government floated the Uzbekistan National Investment Fund (UzNIF) on the London Stock Exchange. The economy is booming and FDI is rising fast.
intellinews · 1 day ago
COMMENT: UzNIFs IPO marks a milestone for Uzbekistans capital markets The listing of the Uzbekistan National Investment Fund (UzNIF) on the London Stock Exchange marked a landmark development whose importance extends far beyond a single financial transaction. It signifies a new phase in Uzbekistans transformation.
intellinews · 1 day ago