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🔒 A Win for Encrypted Messaging | EFFector 38.10

When it comes to keeping our texts, chats, and other digital messages safe from prying eyes, we have a powerful tool: end-to-end encryption. Used correctly, end-to-end encryption turns our conversations online into secret messages that can only be decoded by their intended

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Google Search’s AI evolution includes more ads

Google's AI-powered Search era apparently also extends to its ads. Now, when you search for a product, Google's Gemini AI chatbot will surface relevant items and generate a "custom explainer" about why you should purchase a specific one. The update comes just one day after

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It’s make or break time for AI labeling systems

We're about to find out if the systems designed to make deepfakes and AI-generated content easy to spot are actually up to snuff. SynthID and C2PA Content Credentials, two distinct technologies for invisibly tagging image, video, and audio files with information about their

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Trump Mobile may be leaking customer addresses

Just as the T1 Phone is seemingly on the verge of release, Trump Mobile has been accused of insecurely storing customer data, leaving addresses and phone numbers vulnerable. The alleged leak has also revealed how many T1 Phone orders were apparently placed, and it's far fewer

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If Google can’t make AI agents useful, maybe no one can

For years, tech companies have promised AI will give everyone a capable personal assistant but delivered something more like a clueless intern. Over the past six months, that has started to change, thanks largely to the viral open-source AI agent platform OpenClaw. And among

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Android 17 is getting its own version of Apple’s Handoff

Google is adding a new Android feature that resembles Apple's Handoff, allowing you to start a task on your Android phone and continue it right where you left off from a compatible tablet. "Continue On" is designed to eventually be bidirectional, but Google says that at launch

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Samsung workers set to strike at worst possible time

More than 47,000 Samsung Electronics workers are gearing up for an 18-day strike after bonus payment negotiations between the company and its union collapsed. The strike is set to start on Thursday and will be limited to Samsung's domestic chipmaking plants, raising concerns

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We react to Google I/O 2026

What better way to unwind from a two-hour keynote presentation than to pore over the weirdest and wildest details, from a Gmail bot you can converse with to DeepMind's leader saying the singularity is near. The Vergecast went live right after the show, with senior AI reporter

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The future of Google is a search box that does everything

Last year, after watching Google's I/O keynote, I wrote that it felt like Google's future was Google googling. After watching this year's I/O keynote on Tuesday, I don't think Google just wants to google for you - I think it wants to do everything for you, all from a search

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Google’s AI future demands trust — and your personal data

Google has big promises for its AI-powered future - and a lot of it depends on your trust. At I/O 2026, Google described a bunch of new tools that it claims will make your life easier. Gemini Spark, Google's always-on AI agent, can help organize an upcoming event, while Daily

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Here are our favorite Memorial Day deals (so far)

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and the holiday’s sales include plenty of deals on gadgets that can help you make the most of the season. If your plans involve beach days, pool parties, or backyard barbecues, now’s a great time to pick up a portable Bluetooth

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Kickstarter just killed its new mature content rules

Last week, we noted Kickstarter's new content guidelines, which had some pretty weird new additions, including a prohibition on, among related things, projects whose rewards could provide "sexual pleasure." The rules exempted "sexual wellness products that are not designed for

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The 13 biggest announcements at Google I/O 2026

Google's I/O 2026 keynote today was once again full of AI-related announcements including a new family of Gemini 3.5 AI models, new features for Search and Gmail, and updates about its Project Aura smart glasses. If you weren't able to tune into the event's livestream today or

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Google is launching its own version of OpenClaw

Google is launching its own take on OpenClaw, the buzzy AI agent platform that caused a stir in the tech industry earlier this year. Announced during Google I/O 2026, Gemini Spark is an always-on AI agent that can write emails for you, create continually updated study guides,

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Google Search is getting its biggest changes ever

Google Search is entering the next phase of its AI evolution. During Google I/O 2026, the company showed off a reimagined search box that makes it easier to flow between AI Overviews, the AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results, and AI Mode, Google's

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Inside Google’s Beam Lab, an AI face appears

They tell me no one outside Google has seen what we're about to see. No journalist has ever been in this building. Here in Google's Mountain View labs, the company's creating lifesize AI agents that can see you, and talk to you. This one's name is Sophie. It can speak any

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Google wants to compete with Anthropic’s Mythos

Google is making a big push into cybersecurity. At I/O, the company announced that it was inviting select groups of experts to test the API for CodeMender, an "AI agent for code security" it debuted last October. The difference is that Google is now making the tool more widely

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Would you let robots spend your money? Google is betting on it

Google is going all in on AI-driven shopping even as some competitors back off. At Google I/O, the company unveiled the latest iteration of its AI commerce tools: a "Universal Cart" that works across different retailers and Google products like Gemini - and eventually YouTube

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Google I/O 2026 live blog: On the ground at Google’s keynote

We're back at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, for this year's edition of Google I/O. These days, Silicon Valley is buzzing about the future of AI search, agents, vibe coding, and e-commerce, so you can bet we're expecting to hear tons of news on these

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