Google launches AI mode Google has rolled out an AI Mode for its core search engine, offering chatbot-style interactions as it looks to curtail the flow of internet traffic to other sources. The tech giant revealed the next phase of its AI plans as part of its annual developer’s conference, including the update to […]
Google launches AI mode
Google has rolled out an AI Mode for its core search engine, offering chatbot-style interactions as it looks to curtail the flow of internet traffic to other sources.
The tech giant revealed the next phase of its AI plans as part of its annual developer’s conference, including the update to Google search and the launch of its next AI model, Gemini 2.5, which will feed into its search algorithms.
AI Mode will initially launch in the US, offering more interactions in its search engine, which Google likened to having a conversation with an expert capable of answering a wide array of questions.
About 1.5 billion people now regularly engage with “AI overviews”, according to Google, and most users are now entering longer and more complex queries.
“What all this progress means is that we are in a new phase of the AI platform shift, where decades of research is now becoming reality for people all over the world,” Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, said at a keynote in an amphitheatre near the firm’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.
Clickthrough rates from Google’s search results have declined by nearly 30% during the past year, according to research from search optimisation firm BrightEdge.
Google also said it would re-enter the smart glasses market by launching a new pair of Android XR-powered glasses, including a hands-free camera and a voice-powered AI assistant.
Cyber breach could cost M&S up to £300m
The Marks and Spencer cyber breach could cost the retailer up to £300 million and disrupt some of the retailer’s online services until July.
CEO Stuart Machin claimed that “threat actors” had used “heavily sophisticated” social engineering techniques to access M&S’s systems in the incursion that was first spotted over Easter weekend.
During its financial investor call, the company revealed it hoped to reduce the damage caused by the attack to around £150 million through insurance and cost reductions.
Machin said he expected the business to “recover at pace” from the disruption, with its website set to reopen “within weeks” and likely to begin selling in all product categories before July.
He also confirmed it will bring forward IT investment plans and carry out two years of work on updating its systems within just six months.
Google taps AI to slash power grid connection delays
Google has partnered with several major US grid operators to implement AI tools aimed at linking new clean energy projects to the grid.
Google will work with the likes of PJM, MISO and SPP to add AI functionality that will reduce approval times from 40 months to just 12-24 months by 2026.
PJM – which operates the largest American power network, spanning mostly eastern states – was the latest to partner with Google after announcing a deal last month.
In 2023 a substantial backlog of electricity generation and storage projects totalling nearly 2,600 GW in capacity, was waiting for approval to connect to the US power grid, 95% of it solar, wind and battery storage, according to Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.
UK supermarket supplier Peter Green Chilled hit by ransomware attack
A ransomware attack on Peter Green Chilled, a major logistics provider for UK grocers including Tesco and Aldi, has disrupted order processing and deliveries.
The logistics firm was forced to cancel orders on Thursday due to the cyber-attack, which hit Somerset-based Peter Green’s systems on Wednesday.
It is the latest cyber incident to jolt UK retailers, following recent attacks on the like of M&S, the Co-op and luxury retailer Harrods.
“The transport activities of the business have continued unaffected throughout this incident,” Peter Green managing director Tom Binks said.
Met Office turns to Azure for weather supercomputer
The UK Met Office has upgraded to a new supercomputer that could help make 14-day weather forecasts almost as accurate as seven-day forecasts.
The supercomputer – which leverages Microsoft Azure will be used to predict extreme weather events further in advance, and researchers hope it will also help advance climate research.
Met had already switched to Azure off-site with its previous supercomputer, which has now been switched off. The Met said using the cloud-based system means it can start fresh projects without needing to build additional infrastructure.
Charles Ewen, the Met Office’s chief information officer, said: “People ask how a bigger computer improves the weather forecast.
“One big thing this new computer will allow us to do in the near future is to be able to produce 14-day forecasts with a similar kind of accuracy than we can today for seven, eight, nine days.”
