Additionally, the DOJ wants Mehta to stop Google from any potential self-preferencing, such as making an AI product mandatory on Android devices Google controls or preventing a rival from distribution on Android devices.

The government seems very concerned that Google may use its ownership of Android to play games in the emerging AI sector. They’ve further recommended an order preventing Google from discouraging partners from working with rivals, degrading the quality of rivals’ AI products on Android devices, or otherwise “coercing” manufacturers or other Android partners into giving Google’s AI products “better treatment.”

Importantly, if the court orders AI remedies linked to Google’s control of Android, Google could risk a forced sale of Android if Mehta grants the DOJ’s request for “contingent structural relief” requiring divestiture of Android if behavioral remedies don’t destroy the current monopolies.

Finally, the government wants Google to be required to allow publishers to opt out of AI training without impacting their search rankings. (Currently, opting out of AI scraping automatically opts sites out of Google search indexing.)

All of this, the DOJ alleged, is necessary to clear the way for a thriving search market as AI stands to shake up the competitive landscape.

“The promise of new technologies, including advances in artificial intelligence (AI), may present an opportunity for fresh competition,” the DOJ said in a court filing. “But only a comprehensive set of remedies can thaw the ecosystem and finally reverse years of anticompetitive effects.”

At the status conference Tuesday, DOJ attorney David Dahlquist reiterated to Mehta that these remedies are needed so that Google’s illegal conduct in search doesn’t extend to this “new frontier” of search, Law360 reported. Dahlquist also clarified that the DOJ views these kinds of AI products “as new access points for search, rather than a whole new market.”

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/11/google-drags-ai-rivals-into-search-trial-as-judge-entertains-ai-remedies/

One of the fastest monopoly trials on record wound down Monday, as US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema heard closing arguments on Google’s alleged monopoly in a case over the company’s ad tech.

Department of Justice lawyer Aaron Teitelbaum kicked things off by telling Brinkema that Google “rigged” ad auctions, allegedly controlling “multiple parts” of services used to place ads all over the Internet, unfairly advantaging itself in three markets, The New York Times reported.

“Google is once, twice, three times a monopolist,” Teitelbaum said, while reinforcing that “these are the markets that make the free and open Internet possible.”

Teitelbaum likened Google to a “predator,” preying on publishers that allegedly had no viable other options for ad revenue but to stick with Google’s products. An executive for News Corp. testified that the news organization felt it was being held “hostage” because it risked losing $9 million in 2017 if it walked away from Google’s advertising platform.

Brinkema, who wasted no time and frequently urged lawyers to avoid repeating themselves or dragging out litigation with unnecessary testimony throughout the trial, reportedly pushed back.

In one instance she asked, “What would happen if a company had produced the best product,” but Teitelbaum rejected the idea that Google’s ad tech platform had competed on the merits.

“The problem is Google hasn’t done that,” Teitelbaum said, alleging that instead better emerging products “died out,” unable to compete on the merits.

According to Vidushi Dyall, the director of legal analysis for the Chamber of Progress (a trade group representing Google), this lack of advertiser testimony or evidence of better products could be key flaws in the DOJ’s argument. When Brinkema asked what better products Google had stamped out, the DOJ came up blank, Dyall posted in a thread on X (formerly Twitter).

Further, Dyall wrote, Brinkema “noted that the DOJ’s case was notably absent of direct testimony from advertisers.” The judge apparently criticized the DOJ for focusing too much on how publishers were harmed while providing “no direct evidence about advertisers and how satisfied/dissatisfied they are with the system,” Dyall wrote.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/11/doj-wraps-up-ad-tech-trial-google-is-three-times-a-monopolist/

Depending on which Android-focused site you believe, either a third Pixel Tablet was apparently in the works at Google and canceled, as Android Headlines reported, or the second one, as Android Authority has it. Either way, there was reportedly a team at Google working on the next flagship Pixel-branded tablet, and now, seemingly due to profitability concerns, that work is over. At least until, maybe, a third Pixel Tablet in the future.

The Pixel Tablet, released last fall, was generally regarded as Google’s second re-entry into the tablet market that the iPad all but owns, at least at the consumer level. As such, it sought to distinguish itself from Apple’s slab by launching with a home-friendly dock and speaker cradle, taking on the appearance of a big smart home display when docked to it.

While there are no public sales figures, the device has not kick-started a resurgence of interest in Android tablets beyond the baseline sales of Amazon’s Kindle Fire devices (based on a Google-less fork of Android). Google will likely continue to support and promote Android tablets for other manufacturers and now has its own Pixel Fold devices occupying that middle space between phone and tablet forms.

Ars has contacted Google for comment and confirmation and will update this post with its response.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/11/google-seems-to-have-called-it-quits-on-making-its-own-android-tablets-again/

OpenAI lancia la sfida a Google

Un motore di ricerca che si combina con ChatGPT per potenziare tutte le funzionalità della ricerca online di informazioni, Sam Altman, fondatore di OpenAI, non perde tempo e cerca subito di insidiare Google e la sua leadership.

Dopo la presa di posizione del dipartimento di Giustizia e dell’Antitrust degli Stati Uniti contro il predominio di Google sul mercato dei browser, la partita si fa più che mai aperta in questo settore.

Le azioni di Alphabet (casa madre di Google) sono scese di circa l’1% nelle contrattazioni estese, dopo aver chiuso giovedì con un ribasso di circa il 5%.

Secondo The Information, Altman avrebbe preso in considerazione seriamente lo sviluppo di un browser da far lavorare assieme a ChatGPT. OpenAI è già nel mercato delle searching con SearchGPT, quindi il primo passo in fondo è stato già fatto.

Un browser OpenAI ancora non c’è, ma la strada sembra tracciata

Stando all’articolo, la società di Altman avrebbe già illustrato il prodotto ad alcune grandi realtà della rete, come Conde Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite e Priceline.

OpenAI, inoltre, avrebbe anche discusso dell’implementazione delle funzionalità di intelligenza artificiale sui dispositivi realizzati da Samsung, un importante partner commerciale di Google.

Tutto pronto per un nuovo motore di ricerca targato GPT? Non proprio. A quanto pare, il lancio di un nuovo browser non è imminente e ci vorrà ancora del tempo, ma il dado è tratto, come si dice in questi casi.

La battaglia tra chatbot per i dati

Il nuovo corso tecnologico globale impone nuove strade da seguire per raggiungere gli obiettivi strategici e alla fine sono sempre i dati il vero bottino.

Alphabet ha cercato di aumentare il peso della sua intelligenza artificiale sin dal lancio di ChatGPT alla fine del 2022, rispondendo con il chatbot proprietario di AI generativa Gemini.

La società di Altman ha già stretto una partnership con Apple, in base alla quale le funzionalità “Apple Intelligence” sui nuovi dispositivi iOS sono basate sulla tecnologia OpenAI.

Leggi le altre notizie sull’home page di Key4biz

https://www.key4biz.it/openai-pensa-al-suo-browser-e-sfida-google/513058/

Google isn’t alone in eyeballing nuclear power as an energy source for massive datacenters. In September, Ars reported on a plan from Microsoft that would re-open the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania to fulfill some of its power needs. And the US administration is getting into the nuclear act as well, signing a bipartisan ADVANCE act in July with the aim of jump-starting new nuclear power technology.

AI is driving demand for nuclear

In some ways, it would be an interesting twist if demand for training and running power-hungry AI models, which are often criticized as wasteful, ends up kick-starting a nuclear power renaissance that helps wean the US off fossil fuels and eventually reduces the impact of global climate change. These days, almost every Big Tech corporate position could be seen as an optics play designed to increase shareholder value, but this may be one of the rare times when the needs of giant corporations accidentally align with the needs of the planet.

Even from a cynical angle, the partnership between Google and Kairos Power represents a step toward the development of next-generation nuclear power as an ostensibly clean energy source (especially when compared to coal-fired power plants). As the world sees increasing energy demands, collaborations like this one, along with adopting solutions like solar and wind power, may play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite that potential upside, some experts are deeply skeptical of the Google-Kairos deal, suggesting that this recent rush to nuclear may result in Big Tech ownership of clean power generation. Dr. Sasha Luccioni, Climate and AI Lead at Hugging Face, wrote on X, “One step closer to a world of private nuclear power plants controlled by Big Tech to power the generative AI boom. Instead of rethinking the way we build and deploy these systems in the first place.”

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/google-and-kairos-sign-nuclear-reactor-deal-with-aim-to-power-ai/

Sembra che ChatGpt stia facendo un passo da gigante nell’integrazione della ricerca in tempo reale, portando SearchGpt direttamente nell’app principale per iOS. Un nuovo aggiornamento, al momento disponibile solo negli Stati Uniti e accessibile tramite VPN, introduce un’icona di ricerca nell’input di testo, aprendo le porte a una serie di funzionalità innovative. A differenza dei classici motori di ricerca, il progetto di OpenAI non mostra i risultati di ricerca tramite link ma risponde conme se fossimo all’interno di una conversazione. Se si cerca, ad esempio, il meteo a Milano, potrebbero essere mostrati dei widget ma il fulcro sarà farsi dire da Search Gpt le previsioni. Comodo ma, come vedremo più avanti, anche pericoloso in termini di veridicità.

Cosa cambia con SearchGPT?

Fino ad ora, ChatGpt si affidava a Bing per le ricerche, ma questa nuova integrazione sembra andare ben oltre. SearchGpt, precedentemente disponibile solo come prototipo, promette di rivoluzionare l’interazione con la piattaforma, offrendo:

• Ricerca in tempo reale: accesso a informazioni aggiornate al momento della richiesta.
• Widget interattivi: visualizzazione di grafici meteo, andamento azionario e altri dati in formati dinamici.
• Immagini separate: migliore presentazione dei risultati visivi.
• Nuovo layout per le notizie: organizzazione più chiara e intuitiva degli articoli.
• Maggiore flessibilità: possibilità di riscrivere le query per attivare o disattivare la funzione di ricerca a piacimento.
• Condivisione delle conversazioni: anche gli utenti senza accesso a SearchGPT possono visualizzare i risultati delle ricerche.

Un esperimento limitato

Al momento, l’aggiornamento sembra essere limitato all’app per iPhone e non è chiaro se si tratti di un test preliminare in vista di un rilascio più ampio o di una strategia mirata a un pubblico specifico. L’assenza di SearchGpt su Android, desktop e persino sulla versione web, suggerisce che OpenAI stia procedendo con cautela, monitorando attentamente l’utilizzo e il feedback degli utenti prima di estendere la funzionalità ad altre piattaforme.

Un problema cruciale è quello dei bias, ovvero pregiudizi che si insinuano negli algoritmi e possono portare a risultati discriminatori. Questi possono derivare da dati di addestramento incompleti o che riflettono pregiudizi preesistenti, degli sviluppatori stessi o dalla mancanza di diversità nei team di sviluppo. Il risultato? Idee non oggettive e di parte, che potrebbero esacerbare ulteriormente il troppo affidarsi all’IA per prendere decisioni e formarsi idee su nuovi argomenti.

Un futuro di ricerca integrata

L’integrazione di SearchGpt rappresenta comunque un passo importante per ChatGpt, che si avvicina sempre di più a un’esperienza di ricerca completa e integrata. La possibilità di accedere a informazioni in tempo reale, combinata con la potenza di elaborazione del linguaggio naturale, apre scenari interessanti per l’utilizzo dell’intelligenza artificiale nella ricerca e nell’accesso all’informazione. Il punto è quanto potremo fidarci di un’app che non mostra i link su cui si basa ma risponde alle nostre domande con un’idea di certezza che spesso ha lasciato il passo alle allucinazioni.

Leggi le altre notizie sull’home page di Key4biz

https://www.key4biz.it/searchgpt-arriva-negli-usa-fine-al-dominio-di-google/507879/

Ott 11, 2024 Marina Londei Gestione dati, In evidenza, Minacce, News, RSS 0

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Mercoledì Google ha annunciato  Global Signal Exchange, progetto che mira a combattere le frodi online nato in partnersgip con  la Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) e la DNS Research Federation.

“Le frodi hanno un impatto devastante sulla vita delle persone e possono provocare danni reali. Liberare le persone dagli scammer è il core del lavoro di molti team in Google” hanno affermato Amanda Storey, Senior Director Trust and Safety, e Nafis Zebarjadi, Product Manager, Account Security della compagnia.

Nella visione di Google il Global Signal Exchange sarà una vera e propria “camera di compensazione” globale per garantire la sicurezza delle transazioni digitali. La collaborazione sfrutta la rete di stakeholder di GASA e la data platform della DNS Research Federation per crare una piattaforma centralizzata che migliori l’individuazione di segnali di possibili frodi, permettendo di bloccare più velocemente le attività fraudolente.

Il progetto semplificherà il signal sharing, ovvero la condivisione di informazioni sulle possibili frodi. Google, in una prima fase del progetto, ha già condiviso i partner gli oltre 100.000 URL identificati come fraudolenti e ha ottenuto per l’elaborazione più di un milione di segnali di frodi.

Il motore di analisi dati alla base della piattaforma del Global Signal Exchange viene eseguito sulla Cloud Platform di Google e permetterà a tutti coloro che collaboreranno al progetto di condividere e consumare segnali raccolti dagli altri.

“Sappiamo per esperienza che la lotta alle truffe e alle organizzazioni criminali che vi si celano richiede una forte collaborazione tra industria, imprese, società civile e governi per combattere i cattivi attori e proteggere gli utenti. Ci impegniamo a fare la nostra parte per proteggere gli utenti, anche attraverso il nostro continuo lavoro di sviluppo di strumenti, pubblicazione di ricerche e condivisione di competenze e informazioni con altri soggetti per proteggere le persone online” hanno spiegato Storey e Zebarjadi.

Sempre nell’ottica di proteggere gli utenti nella loro vita online, Google ha annunciato che il tool Cross-Account Protection, lanciato lo scorso maggio, sta ora proteggendo 3.2 miliardi di utenti in tutto il mondo. Il tool è gratuito ed è disponibile in automatico in tutti i siti web e le applicazioni che integrano il login con Google.

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https://www.securityinfo.it/2024/10/11/google-lancia-global-signal-exchange-per-combattere-le-frodi-online/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-lancia-global-signal-exchange-per-combattere-le-frodi-online

After a US court ruled earlier this week that Google must open its Play Store to allow for third-party app stores and alternative payment options, Microsoft is moving quickly to slide into this slightly ajar door.

Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, posted on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday evening that the ruling “will allow more choice and flexibility.” “Our mission is to allow more players to play on more devices so we are thrilled to share that starting in November, players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android,” Bond wrote.

Because the court order requires Google to stop forcing apps to use its own billing system and allow for third-party app stores inside Google Play itself, Microsoft now intends to offer Xbox games directly through its app. Most games will likely not run directly on Android, but a revamped Xbox Android app could also directly stream purchased or subscribed games to Android devices.

Until now, buying Xbox games (or most any game) on a mobile device has typically involved either navigating to a web-based store in a browser—while avoiding attempts by the phone to open a store’s official app—or simply using a different device entirely to buy the game, then playing or streaming it on the phone.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/10/xbox-plans-to-set-up-shop-in-androids-play-store-if-court-order-holds/

“Hampering Google’s AI tools risks holding back American innovation at a critical moment,” Mulholland warned, claiming that AI is still new and “competition globally is fierce.”

“There are enormous risks to the government putting its thumb on the scale of this vital industry—skewing investment, distorting incentives, hobbling emerging business models—all at precisely the moment that we need to encourage investment, new business models, and American technological leadership,” Mulholland wrote.

Hepner told Ars that he thinks that the DOJ’s proposed remedies framework actually “meets the moment and matches the imperative to deprive Google of its monopoly hold on the search market, on search advertising, and potentially on future related markets.”

To ensure compliance with any remedies pursued, the DOJ also recommended “protections against circumvention and retaliation, including through novel paths to preserving dominance in the monopolized markets.”

That means Google might be required to “finance and report to a Court-appointed technical committee” charged with monitoring any Google missteps. The company may also have to agree to retain more records for longer—including chat messages that the company has been heavily criticized for deleting. And through this compliance monitoring, Google may also be prohibited from owning a large stake in any rivals.

If Google were ever found willfully non-compliant, the DOJ is considering a “range of provisions,” including risking more extreme structural or behavioral remedies or enduring extensions of compliance periods.

As the remedies stage continues through the spring, followed by Google’s prompt appeal, Hepner suggested that the DOJ could fight to start imposing remedies before the appeal concludes. Likely Google would just as strongly fight for any remedies to be delayed.

While the trial drags on, Hepner noted that Google already appears to be trying to strike another default deal with Apple that appears pretty similar to the controversial distribution deals at the heart of the search monopoly trial. In March, Apple started mulling using Google’s Gemini to exclusively power new AI features for the iPhone.

“This is basically the exact same anticompetitive behavior that they were found liable for,” Hepner told Ars, suggesting this could “weaken” Apple’s defense both against the DOJ’s broad framework of proposed remedies and during the appeal.

“If Google is actually engaging in the same anti-competitive conduct and artificial intelligence markets that they were found liable for in the search market, the court’s not going to look kindly on that relative to an appeal,” Hepner said.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/googles-ai-deals-could-hurt-its-search-monopoly-appeal-expert-says/

What does this tell us?

Boixo emphasized that the value of the work isn’t really based on the value of performing random quantum circuits. Truly random bit strings might be useful in some contexts, but he emphasized that the real benefit here is a better understanding of the noise level that can be tolerated in quantum algorithms more generally. Since this benchmark is designed to make it as easy as possible to outperform classical computations, you would need the best standard computers here to have any hope of beating them to the answer for more complicated problems.

“Before you can do any other application, you need to win on this benchmark,” Boixo said. “If you are not winning on this benchmark, then you’re not winning on any other benchmark. This is the easiest thing for a noisy quantum computer compared to a supercomputer.”

Knowing how to identify this phase transition, he suggested, will also be helpful for anyone trying to run useful computations on today’s processors. “As we define the phase, it opens the possibility for finding applications in that phase on noisy quantum computers, where they will outperform classical computers,” Boixo said.

Implicit in this argument is an indication of why Google has focused on iterating on a single processor design even as many of its competitors have been pushing to increase qubit counts rapidly. If this benchmark indicates that you can’t get all of Sycamore’s qubits involved in the simplest low-noise regime calculation, then it’s not clear whether there’s a lot of value in increasing the qubit count. And the only way to change that is to lower the base error rate of the processor, so that’s where the company’s focus has been.

All of that, however, assumes that you hope to run useful calculations on today’s noisy hardware qubits. The alternative is to use error-corrected logical qubits, which will require major increases in qubit count. But Google has been seeing similar limitations due to Sycamore’s base error rate in tests that used it to host an error-corrected logical qubit, something we hope to return to in future coverage.

Nature, 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07998-6  (About DOIs).

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/10/google-identifies-low-noise-phase-transition-in-its-quantum-processor/