GoKawiil
Tech News
Google is letting eligible college students claim a full year of its $19.99-per-month AI Pro plan at no cost, provided they verify enrollment through SheerID. Buyers of certain hardware, including Chromebook Plus, standard Chromebooks, and the Pixel 11, also qualify for several months of free access, and some plans can be shared with others.
Google has released Gemini 3.5 Transcribe, a new speech-to-text model that converts raw audio into clean, formatted text while handling background noise, jargon, and disfluencies better than prior systems. It's available to developers via the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, split into a real-time streaming option and a pre-recorded audio processing option.
Google has released Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash, adding creative controls and generative video features aimed at developers building media and editing tools through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio. The update introduces scene extension, letting users continue existing videos using up to 10 seconds of prior context instead of just the final second, and extend clips in 10-second increments up to 40 seconds total.
Google has expanded its AI Mode search feature to let users track flight prices across more than 180 countries, receiving email alerts when fares change. The tool can also display flight and hotel costs in points or miles, and in the US, users can now book hotels directly within AI Mode using Google Pay through partner services.
Google announced that its AI Mode conversational search tool can now track flight prices, help users book hotels, and show flight and hotel costs in points or miles. Flight price tracking pulls from over 300 airlines and travel sites and is available in more than 180 countries, while hotel booking is rolling out first in the U.S. in English through partners like Booking.com.
Google is expanding Gemini Live beyond casual conversation, adding features like Personal Intelligence, Daily Brief, hands-free Gmail management, and integration with Gemini Spark. The Spark integration lets users speak unstructured thoughts aloud, which Gemini Live then organizes into actionable, multi-step tasks such as meal planning or grocery lists. Some features, including Spark and Daily Brief, require paid Google AI Pro or Plus subscriptions.
Deep Cogito, a startup founded by former Google AI search employees, has raised $43 million in funding. The capital will support the company's mission of helping businesses develop their own specialized AI models rather than relying solely on third-party systems.
Developer Niklas Gruhn coined the term 'meat proxy' to describe coworkers who forward unedited chatbot responses instead of engaging with the content themselves. He wrote that receiving these raw AI outputs adds no value, since colleagues could simply query the AI directly. The phrase follows other recent slang like 'clanker' that reflects growing frustration with AI's creeping presence in daily work and communication.
Bankrupt Spirit Airlines accepted a $10 million bid from Google to acquire 34 years of company records, including invoices, flight operations details, Wi-Fi sales, and employee files, beating a $7.5 million offer from AI firm Mercor. The Association of Flight Attendants, representing 5,500 former Spirit crew members, has filed a court objection arguing the sale exposes sensitive worker data that employees never consented to having used for AI training, even though Google says customer information is excluded.