Google says K-12 schools must enable its Gemini AI tools alongside Search, since the two will now be off by default for student accounts until administrators turn them on. VP Chris Phillips says schools that fully disable Gemini will also lose access to Google Search, seeing a blocked-service message instead of results. The policy applies to Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Search within Google Classroom, used by over 150 million students and educators worldwide.
techspot.com
· 2026-11-03
Google announced that its education products will default to having AI features turned off, requiring administrators to manually enable them if they want access. The catch is that the AI toggle bundles together Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Google Search, so schools that want to block AI tools must also give up search functionality.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-11-03
Developer Andrew Boldi released tmux-restore, an open-source tool that automatically saves tmux sessions, windows, panes, working directories and scrollback every minute and again at shutdown. It restores them on restart, and panes running coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, opencode or pi resume their exact prior conversations. The tool is installed via a shell script and builds on existing tmux-resurrect and tmux-continuum plugins.
github.com
· 2026-11-03
Google announced it is changing default settings so Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search will be off for K-12 student accounts until administrators turn them on. The company told Engadget and the New York Times that because Search and AI are deeply integrated, schools that opt out of AI tools will also see Search blocked for students, with a message explaining its unavailability. The move reverses an August change that had enabled some AI features by default in Classroom after educator backlash.
engadget.com
· 2026-11-03
Google announced that starting next year, AI features across Gemini, NotebookLM, Gemini in Classroom, and Search will be off by default for K-12 students unless school administrators turn them on. However, because Google has integrated AI directly into Search, schools that opt out of AI entirely will also lose access to Google Search itself. The company said the policy follows discussions with schools, teachers, researchers, and policymakers.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-11-03
Google's Pixel Buds Pro 2 are discounted to $169 at Amazon, Best Buy, and the Google Store, tying their previous low price. Google states the sale runs through 11:59PM PT on November 8th, though some color options are already sold out at certain retailers.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-03
Pew Research found about 8% of surveyed US adults used AI chatbots to research candidates and policies ahead of the midterms. Testing by Forum AI found nearly 40% of chatbot answers on election topics contained factual errors, including Google's Gemini citing a wrong ballot deadline and Claude confusing a congressman with another person of the same name. NewsGuard separately found chatbots citing so-called 'pink slime' partisan sites nearly half the time when answering election-related questions.
wired.com
· 2026-11-03
Android Authority found a hidden, in-development version of Gmail's Ask Gemini tool in app version 2026.10.26.1009152371.release that replaces the current bottom sheet with a pill-shaped floating overlay resembling the standalone Gemini app. The overlay includes an expandable grab handle, voice input with a stop button, and a plus menu offering options to add files from Drive or adjust Gemini search settings.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-11-03
The Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker, which launched in June as Google's first new smart speaker in years, is now discounted by about $20 to roughly $79 in all four colors across Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. The sale marks the lowest price yet for the device, which supports Matter, includes a Thread border router, and can serve as audio output for the Google TV Streamer 4K.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-03
Google has launched Gemini 4 Carbon, which Artificial Analysis now ranks as the top AI model on its Intelligence Index V5 suite, narrowly surpassing Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 by one point and besting OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra and Meta's Muse Wonder Full. The model also leads a separate Artificial Analysis test measuring hallucination rates and factual recall, though its score of 54 out of a possible 100 shows even the top model remains far from fully reliable. Google is initially rolling the model out to cyber defenders via its Fairwind program, with broader access to follow later.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-11-03
Google told The New York Times that K-12 schools which opt out of its Gemini AI tools will also lose access to Google Search entirely, unless administrators explicitly turn the features on. The change was detailed in a Tuesday education update, where Google said Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom, and Search will all be off by default and bundled together as a single setting.
theverge.com
· 2026-11-03
A reader poll of more than 1,200 respondents found over 60% believe Google Gemini's performance has declined in recent months, with complaints of misunderstandings and degraded output. Excluding non-users, nearly two-thirds of respondents reported dissatisfaction, while about 20% said they saw no decline and 14.6% were unsure. Commenters described Gemini as frustrating and said rival assistants now outperform it for everyday tasks.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-11-03