Google has shattered corporate records by surpassing $400 billion in annual revenue for the first time. The search giant reported $402.8 billion for 2025, a 15% increase, driven by a massive surge in AI and cloud demand.
Despite – or perhaps because of this windfall – Google is doubling down on its infrastructure. The company plans to spend a record $185 billion this year on data centres and AI hardware. This represents the largest annual capital expenditure in history.
The spending surge is a direct response to the “code red” threat from ChatGPT. CEO Sundar Pichai told investors the investment is essential to meet exploding demand. Google’s Gemini app has now reached 750 million monthly users, rapidly closing the gap with OpenAI.
Profitability remains strong despite the costs. Net income hit $132 billion last year, up 30% from 2024. Google Cloud was a standout performer, with revenue jumping 48% to $17.7 billion in the final quarter.
The scale of the investment has stunned Wall Street. Google’s AI budget now exceeds the annual military spending of almost every country on Earth. Tech rivals are also ramping up, with Microsoft and Meta forecasting their own record spending.
Elon Musk briefly paused his rivalry with Google’s boss Sundar Pichai to acknowledge the milestone. “Well done,” Musk posted on X in response to the revenue news. The comment reflects the industry’s awe at Google’s financial recovery.
Analysts remain divided on the long-term impact. While some fear an “AI bubble,” others see the spending as a necessary defence. Google is betting that owning the AI infrastructure of the future is the only way to stay on top.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, and is planning a sharp increase in capital spending in 2026 as it continues to invest deeply in AI infrastructure. Alphabet on Wednesday reported profit of $34.5bn in the recently ended quarter, as revenue from cloud computing soared 48%. The company also forecast spending between $175bn and $185bn this year, a figure much higher than analysts’ expectations of roughly $115bn. Guardian
The US has launched an effort to form a trade zone for critical minerals that are key to making everything from smartphones to weapons as it tries to break China’s dominance of the industry. On Wednesday, the State Department hosted the first Critical Minerals Ministerial event – which was attended by countries and organisations including the UK, European Union, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Delegates discussed the availability of and access to minerals crucial to the manufacture of things like computer chips and electric vehicle batteries. BBC
Setting up a new AirTag is just as effortlessas its predecessor. Pull out the plastic tag, connecting the battery, and a notification will pop up on your nearby iPhone. You can then name it, assign it to an item and it’ll join your list of findable Apple hardware. I’ve been testing the range of the new AirTag, and if anything, the 50 percent increase in Precision Finding range is a conservative estimate. Naturally, tracking can be affected by building structure, walls and a lack of nearby Find My network devices, but the next-generation AirTag’s “getting closer” screen consistently appeared on my phone when I was around 80 feet away. Engadget
Disturbingly lifelike humanoid robots are becoming a big theme of 2026 – and a Shanghai startup has just revealed what might be the closest thing to an extra from Westworld. Fortunately, it’s still easy to tell that Moya is indeed a robot – the plasticky skin, dead eyes, and slightly jerky movements give that away. But a few interesting, or perhaps creepy, details mean it’s also a cut above your average cold-blooded companion. Firstly, Moya’s skin is actually warm. “A robot that truly serves human life should be warm… almost like a living being that people can people can connect with,” claimed Li Qingdu, founder of Moya’s maker Droidup, in an interview with Shanghai Eye. TechRadar
BT has managed to slow an exodus of broadband customers as struggling “alt-net” rivals begin to run into trouble. The former monopoly shed 210,000 accounts in the last three months of 2025, a slight improvement on the 240,000 lost in the previous three months. Overall, BT said it expected its broadband customer numbers to fall by 850,000 for the full year, rather than the 900,000 it had previously forecast. Telegraph
The mysterious Humax Freely recorder has surfaced again – and this time, we’ve got far more than just photos and a price tag. The Humax Aura EZ 4K Freely Recorder has appeared on Richer Sounds’ website, complete with detailed specifications, product images, and even the full user manual that reveals a lot about what this device can and can’t do. The listing shows a 2TB model priced at £249. Cordbusters
Google’s AI assistant Gemini App now has more than 750 million monthly active users, CEO Sundar Pichai said at parent company Alphabet’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
That’s roughly 100 million more users than the 650 million monthly active users the company reported in its third-quarter earnings report. That report was released just three weeks before the company’s Gemini 3 debut upended the AI world.
“We are also seeing significantly higher engagement per user, especially since the launch of Gemini 3,” Pichai said. “[Gemini 3] has seen the fastest adoption of any model in our history.”
Google’s AI story experienced a major turnaround in mid-November thanks to Gemini 3, the company’s latest AI model. AI enthusiasts praised the capabilities of the model far and wide on social media, with even some long-time ChatGPT fanboys like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff admitting to converting to Gemini. AI benchmarking firm LMArena’s cofounder Wei-Lin Chiang even called the release “more than a leaderboard shuffle.”
Gemini 3 was so well-received that only a couple of weeks later, OpenAI leadership declared “code red” at the company. Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose company has significant business with OpenAI, reportedly raised worries over the competition Google now poses to OpenAI’s market dominance.
Despite the huge jump in users for Gemini, there might still be a long way to go until it can suprpass ChatGPT to become the chatbot leader. OpenAI doesn’t report regular data on ChatGPT active users, but a The Information report from December claimed that ChatGPT was nearing 900 million users weekly at the time.
Either way, Google’s catch-up effort is impressive. With high-profile launches like Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro, Google has been able to save its once-battered AI reputation following the failed launch of Gemini image generation in early 2024.
“I think we are in a very, very relentless innovation cadence, and I think we are confident about maintaining that momentum as we go through ’26,” Pichai said in the earnings call. Executives shared that they are planning to double capital expenditures in 2026, with the majority going towards AI.
Google has big plans for Gemini this year. Apple recently tapped Gemini to power its AI revamp of Siri that is set to launch later this year, and Samsung announced last month that it was planning to double the amount of its Gemini-infused mobile devices. The company is also preparing to make Gemini more “shoppable” with checkout experiences infused directly into the app.
You might also want to start preparing to have your Gemini chats plagued by ads, but that might still be further on the horizon.
“Ads have always been part of scaling products to reach billions of people,” Google’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler said. “But as we’ve said, we’re not rushing anything here.”
Federal safety regulators are once again taking a hard look at self-driving cars after a serious incident involving Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet.
This time, the investigation centers on a Waymo vehicle that struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, California, during morning drop-off hours. The crash happened Jan. 23 and raised immediate questions about how autonomous vehicles behave around children, school zones and unpredictable pedestrian movement.
On Jan. 29, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed it had opened a new preliminary investigation into Waymo’s automated driving system.
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Waymo operates Level 4 self-driving vehicles in select U.S. cities, where the car controls all driving tasks without a human behind the wheel.(AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)
What happened near the Santa Monica school?
According to documents posted by NHTSA, the crash occurred within two blocks of an elementary school during normal drop-off hours. The area was busy. There were multiple children present, a crossing guard on duty and several vehicles double-parked along the street.
Investigators say the child ran into the roadway from behind a double-parked SUV while heading toward the school. The Waymo vehicle struck the child, who suffered minor injuries. No safety operator was inside the vehicle at the time.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation is now examining whether the autonomous system exercised appropriate caution given its proximity to a school zone and the presence of young pedestrians.
Federal investigators are now examining whether Waymo’s automated system exercised enough caution near a school zone during morning drop-off hours.(Waymo)
Why federal investigators stepped in
The NHTSA says the investigation will focus on how Waymo’s automated driving system is designed to behave in and around school zones, especially during peak pickup and drop-off times.
That includes whether the vehicle followed posted speed limits, how it responded to visual cues like crossing guards and parked vehicles and whether its post-crash response met federal safety expectations. The agency is also reviewing how Waymo handled the incident after it occurred.
Waymo said it voluntarily contacted regulators the same day as the crash and plans to cooperate fully with the investigation. In a statement, the company said it remains committed to improving road safety for riders and everyone sharing the road.
Waymo responds to the federal investigation
We reached out to Waymo for comment, and the company provided the following statement:
“At Waymo, we are committed to improving road safety, both for our riders and all those with whom we share the road. Part of that commitment is being transparent when incidents occur, which is why we are sharing details regarding an event in Santa Monica, California, on Friday, January 23, where one of our vehicles made contact with a young pedestrian. Following the event, we voluntarily contacted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that same day. NHTSA has indicated to us that they intend to open an investigation into this incident, and we will cooperate fully with them throughout the process.
“The event occurred when the pedestrian suddenly entered the roadway from behind a tall SUV, moving directly into our vehicle’s path. Our technology immediately detected the individual as soon as they began to emerge from behind the stopped vehicle. The Waymo Driver braked hard, reducing speed from approximately 17 mph to under 6 mph before contact was made.
“To put this in perspective, our peer-reviewed model shows that a fully attentive human driver in this same situation would have made contact with the pedestrian at approximately 14 mph. This significant reduction in impact speed and severity is a demonstration of the material safety benefit of the Waymo Driver.
“Following contact, the pedestrian stood up immediately, walked to the sidewalk and we called 911. The vehicle remained stopped, moved to the side of the road and stayed there until law enforcement cleared the vehicle to leave the scene.
This event demonstrates the critical value of our safety systems. We remain committed to improving road safety where we operate as we continue on our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver.”
Understanding Waymo’s autonomy level
Waymo vehicles fall under Level 4 autonomy on NHTSA’s six-level scale.
At Level 4, the vehicle handles all driving tasks within specific service areas. A human driver is not required to intervene, and no safety operator needs to be present inside the car. However, these systems do not operate everywhere and are currently limited to ride-hailing services in select cities.
The NHTSA has been clear that Level 4 vehicles are not available for consumer purchase, even though passengers may ride inside them.
This is not Waymo’s first federal probe
This latest investigation follows a previous NHTSA evaluation that opened in May 2024. That earlier probe examined reports of Waymo vehicles colliding with stationary objects like gates, chains and parked cars. Regulators also reviewed incidents in which the vehicles appeared to disobey traffic control devices.
That investigation was closed in July 2025 after regulators reviewed the data and Waymo’s responses. Safety advocates say the new incident highlights unresolved concerns.
No safety operator was inside the vehicle at the time of the crash, raising fresh questions about how autonomous cars handle unpredictable situations involving children.(Waymo)
What this means for you
If you live in a city where self-driving cars operate, this investigation matters more than it might seem. School zones are already high-risk areas, even for attentive human drivers. Autonomous vehicles must be able to detect unpredictable behavior, anticipate sudden movement and respond instantly when children are present.
This case will likely influence how regulators set expectations for autonomous driving systems near schools, playgrounds and other areas with vulnerable pedestrians. It could also shape future rules around local oversight, data reporting and operational limits for self-driving fleets.
For parents, commuters and riders, the outcome may affect where and when autonomous vehicles are allowed to operate.
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Self-driving technology promises safer roads, fewer crashes and less human error. But moments like this remind us that the hardest driving scenarios often involve human unpredictability, especially when children are involved. Federal investigators now face a crucial question: Did the system act as cautiously as it should have in one of the most sensitive driving environments possible? How they answer that question could help define the next phase of autonomous vehicle regulation in the United States.
Do you feel comfortable sharing the road with self-driving cars near schools, or is that a line technology should not cross yet? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
Google has confirmed that more than 40% of all Android phones are currently vulnerable to security threats.
The tech giant’s latest distribution data reveals that over a billion users are operating on unsupported software. These devices no longer receive critical security patches, leaving them open to advanced malware and spyware attacks.
Google officially ended security support for Android 12 and all older versions last year. According to the internal data, only 58% of active devices are running Android 13 or newer.
The most recent version, Android 16, currently powers only 7.5% of phones. While Android 15 and 14 hold larger shares, millions of users remain stuck on “legacy” hardware that cannot be updated.
Security experts warn that these outdated phones are “sitting ducks” for cybercriminals. Without official patches, vulnerabilities like the “Pixnapping” exploit allow hackers to snoop on screens or steal banking credentials without any user interaction.
Unlike iPhones, which Apple can update simultaneously across its ecosystem, the Android landscape is highly fragmented. Many older flagship phones that were once premium devices are now considered high-risk because they have reached their end-of-life status.
Google is now urging users to prioritize security over hardware specs. If a device cannot be updated to at least Android 13, the official advice is to replace it. Experts suggest that a modern mid-range phone with active support is far safer than an older, unsupported flagship.
The warning also highlights the rise of “background” spyware. These attacks often operate in silence, exfiltrating private messages and financial data while the user is unaware their system has been breached.
While Google Play Protect provides some defence, analysts insist there is no substitute for core operating system updates. For more than 40% of the world’s Android users, therefore, the only way to stay safe may be to buy a new phone.
Google might have been officially ruled to have a monopoly, but we’re still a long way from figuring out exactly what that determination will change at the tech company. Today, the US Department of Justice filed notice of a plan to cross-appeal the decision last fall that Google would not be required to sell off the its Chrome browser. The agency’s Antitrust Division posted about the action on X. According to Bloomberg, a group of states is also joining the appeal filing.
At the time of the 2025 ruling, the Justice Department had pushed for a Chrome sale to be part of the outcome. Judge Amit Mehta denied the request from the agency. “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints,” Mehta’s decision stated. However, he did set other restrictions on Google’s business activities, such as an end to exclusive deals for distributing some services and a requirement to share select search data with competitors.
Google has already filed its own appeal over this part of its ongoing antitrust battle. Of course, the tech giant is hoping to get off the hook with fewer penalties rather than the heavier ones the DOJ is seeking.
When Pornhub announced last week that it would be restricting UK access, many were left wondering why. It was one of many sites forced to bring in robust age verification measures in July 2025 under the Online Safety Act. But the law has come under constant scrutiny, with critics pointing out it can be easily circumvented by using a virtual private network (VPN). Pornhub’s parent company Aylo has claimed the law has driven people to sites not following the law and increased “exposure to dangerous or illegal content”. And from Monday 2 February, people who have not previously verified their age will not be able to access explicit material on Pornhub’s UK site. BBC
Does Tesla still matter to Elon Musk? The electric vehicle (EV) trailblazer remains the most valuable car company on the planet – four times the value of Toyota. But to keep his ambitions for AI and humanoid robots alive, Musk may be about to throw it overboard. Let’s consider the evidence. Faced with ferocious competition from China, Tesla has failed to introduce a new car model since the Model Y in 2020, giving us only tweaks and discounts. The Cybertruck has sold poorly, and the much-delayed Semi HGV is not yet in production. But instead of putting new capital into Tesla, Musk is taking it out. Telegraph
Fitbit
Not long after Google bought Fitbit in 2021, it became clear that Fitbit accounts would be swallowed by Google accounts – but if you’re yet to make the switch, Google is giving you a little bit more time to get around to it. As per the official support page (via The Verge), the lights will go off for Fitbit accounts on May 19, 2026: after that time your Fitbit account will no longer work with Fitbit devices. The deadline for downloading your data is a little later, on July 15, 2026. Tech Radar
The comedian Megan Stalter, who posts absurd character skits to an audience in the high hundreds of thousands across Instagram and TikTok, tried sharing a different kind of video on Saturday night. Driven by the death of Alex Pretti, the nurse shot by a federal immigration agent or agents that day, she had recorded herself urging her fellow Christians to speak out against ICE raids in Minneapolis. “We have to abolish ICE,” Stalter said in the video. “I truly, truly believe that is exactly what Jesus would do.” On Instagram, the video was reposted more than 12,000 times. But her plea never made it to TikTok. CNN
On social media, people often accuse each other of being bots, but what happens when an entire social network is designed for AI agents to use?Moltbook is a site where the AI agents – bots built by humans – can post and interact with each other.It is designed to look like Reddit, with subreddits on different topics and upvoting. On 2 February the platform stated it had more than 1.5m AI agents signed up to the service. Humans are allowed, but only as observers. The Guardian
“There was lots of bullying, harassment, exclusion from the team, from projects. A lot of things were going on.” For the first time, former TikTok worker Lynda Ouazar is speaking out to expose what she says was an environment of bullying, harassment and union busting at one of the world’s biggest social media companies. “I was finding it really hard to sleep at night, having flashbacks, feeling tired, losing my motivation,” she tells Sky News.
US authorities have reportedly investigated claims that Meta can read users’ encrypted chats on the WhatsApp messaging platform, which it owns. The reports follow a lawsuit filed last week, which claimed Meta “can access virtually all of WhatsApp users’ purportedly ‘private’ communications”. Meta has denied the allegation, reported by Bloomberg, calling the lawsuit’s claim “categorically false and absurd”. It suggested the claim was a tactic to support the NSO Group, an Israeli firm that develops spyware used against activists and journalists, and which recently lost a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp. Guardian
An ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a bill to ban social media for children, as the world’s biggest market for Meta and YouTube joins a global debate on the impact of social media on young people’s health and safety. “Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the world’s largest producers of data for foreign platforms,” lawmaker L.S.K. Devarayalu told Reuters on Friday. Reuters
At the height of the Cold War, US Air Force officials proposed a terrifying plan to help America demonstrate its superiority over the Soviet Union: detonating a nuclear bomb on the Moon. The top secret programme, Project A119, envisaged carrying a hydrogen bomb aboard an intercontinental ballistic missile into space and exploding it on the lunar surface. The detonation was to be visible from Earth and show American muscle after Russia had gained a lead in the space race. Fortunately, the 1958 project was cancelled over fears of nuclear fallout poisoning future astronauts. Yet now, the global space race is on the brink of going nuclear once again. Telegraph
Until recently, Elon Musk claimed that Tesla’s Optimus robot (pictured) was already deployed in the company’s factories and could be ready for sale to private customers by 2027. However, this now appears to be far from the truth. Contrary to earlier statements, not a single Optimus unit is currently performing productive work in Tesla’s plants. Musk himself confirmed during the latest earnings call that the robot remains in development and is currently being trained – “it’s more so that the robot can learn,” as he put it – rather than actually assisting in production. NotebookCheck
We have seen this before. Hijacked Google search resultsto direct users to malicious websites or installs. And now here we go again. This time with an attack that specifically targets millions of Apple users. Make sure you do not fall victim. Per Apple Insider, sponsored Google ads are now “leading users on to faked Apple support pages that try to get the user to use the Terminal and install malware on Macs.” The ads show when users search for “mac cleaner” in Google rather than using a legitimate app store to find a suitable option. Forbes
I have spent the last few months investigating AI music. What has emerged is a picture of a vast attempted fraud, as technologically-equipped criminals use AI tools to try and take billions of pounds away from real-life musicians. The fraud takes place in two stages which sound like something from a science-fiction novel, but are now part of everyday life in the hidden world of the internet economy. First, the fraudsters make huge amounts of AI music. Then, they build bots to stream that music over and over again and thereby make some royalties. Sky News
As Google’s AI Overviews move from experiment to default, brands face a fundamental shift in visibility, control and customer acquisition. Unsplash+
The rules of online visibility have changed. For decades, digital commerce strategy rested on a relatively stable bargain: brands optimized for ranking and bids, Google surfaced links and ads and consumers clicked through to evaluate options. That model is being rewritten with a new gatekeeper standing between brands and customers. Artificial intelligence has become an intermediary in search that increasingly answers questions, frames comparisons and influences decisions before users ever reach a brand’s site.
Google’s AI Overviews, the generative summaries that now appear at the top of many search results, are fundamentally altering how consumers discover products, compare services and make purchasing decisions. Since late 2024, Google has expanded its reach across more query types, industries and regions, signaling that generative search is moving from experiment to default behavior. Instead of presenting users with a list of links to explore, search now often begins with a synthesized answer that sets the context, priorities and perceived winners before any click occurs.
The shift is becoming commercially consequential. In recent months, advertisers and agencies have begun to observe paid placements appearing within or adjacent to AI Overviews. Beyond reshaping organic discovery, early signals show ads beginning to appear within or adjacent to these summaries, introducing a new, and largely opaque, layer of paid visibility. While such placements remain limited for now, their presence at all raises a larger issue: advertisers currently have little insight into where their ads surface within A.I.-driven results, how those placements perform or how they influence buyer intent. As a result, a growing portion of search visibility is effectively operating outside of traditional reporting frameworks.
This coincides with a broader recalibration of Google’s search experience. As regulators scrutinize Google’s market power and users increasingly expect instant, synthesized answers, Google has strong incentives to keep people on the results page longer. AI Overviews serve that goal. For brands, however, this creates a growing measurement and control gap at precisely the moment when search remains one of the most expensive and performance-critical channels in digital commerce.
A recent analysis by Adthena of more than 21 million search results suggests that this is not a gradual transition. The expansion of AI Overviews is accelerating, affecting visibility across nearly every major industry and creating what many brands are already experiencing as a measurement and control gap in search performance. With search engine results pages (SERPs) evolving in real time, brands face a narrowing window to understand where their ads and content appear, how A.I.-driven placements reshape performance and what strategic adjustments are required before competitors adapt faster.
The numbers tell a stark story
Between April and September of last year, AI Overviews expanded their footprint dramatically across the search landscape. Finance saw the fastest growth, with visibility increasing at 9.9 percent, while healthcare maintained the highest overall presence with an 8.3 percent jump. Travel rose 5.8 percent, and even traditionally slower-moving sectors such as retail and automotive still recorded steady growth of around 2 percent.
At first glance, these percentages may seem modest, but the impact is anything but. Early performance indicators suggest that paid search click-through rates could decline by eight to 12 percentage points, translating into a 20 percent to 40 percent relative drop in traffic for businesses that rely on search advertising. That’s not a rounding error. That’s a fundamental disruption to customer acquisition.
More concerning than frequency is placement. AI Overviews initially appeared on longer, informational queries—classic top-of-funnel searches. Increasingly, they are triggering on shorter, high-volume keywords associated with comparison and purchase intent. This effectively compresses the funnel, placing A.I.-generated summaries in the same high-value real estate historically occupied by paid ads.
Consider what this means in practical terms. A search for “best business accounting software,” for example, may now surface an A.I.-generated synthesis before a user encounters a single paid listing or organic result. That summary often becomes the first, and sometimes final, touchpoint influencing a decision.
How the impact differs by industry
The pattern varies significantly by industry, revealing which sectors face the most immediate pressure.
Finance leads the disruption. AI Overview visibility in financial services climbs from 11 percent on single-word searches to nearly 79 percent on longer queries. For banks, investment firms and fintech companies, this means A.I. is now mediating the majority of comparison and research queries, precisely the searches that have driven customer acquisition for years.
Healthcare remains saturated. Even short medical queries frequently trigger AI Overviews, though there’s a notable pullback on complex medical queries (down 21 percent). This suggests increased caution around sensitive health topics, creating both risk and oportunity for providers and pharmaceutical brands navigating compliance and trust.
Retail sees A.I. dominating product discovery. Retail AI Overviews peak at 84 percent on nine to 10-word searches, shifting advantage towards brands that publish detailed, educational content rather than those relying primarily on ad spend.
Travel faces a planning-stage takeover. AI Overviews rose 5.8 percent across mid-length queries, such as season travel planning, where paid listings once captured high-intent traffic. Airlines, hotels and booking platforms are competing with A.I. summaries that shape itineraries before users click.
What this means for the bottom line
The financial implications extend well beyond simple traffic loss. Businesses are facing a threefold challenge:
Rising acquisition costs. As click-through rates decline, the cost per acquisition for paid search campaigns increases. Marketing budgets that once delivered predictable returns are now generating fewer conversions at higher costs.
Diminished message control. AI Overviews synthesize information from multiple sources, often without clear attribution. Brand positioning gets filtered through A.I.’s interpretation, which may miss nuances, emotional cues or unique value propositions that create differentiation from competitors.
Competitive displacement. The brands gaining visibility in AI Overviews aren’t necessarily those with the largest ad budgets. They’re the ones providing comprehensive, information-rich content that A.I. systems favor. This levels the playing field in some ways, but it also means established market leaders can lose ground to better-optimized competitors.
Still, disruption creates opportunities for businesses willing to adapt quickly. For example, in industries like gaming and automotive, long tail informational queries, search terms that include specific words that reflect higher purchase intent with four or more words, often show paid ads securing strong placement above AI Overviews. These mid- and upper-funnel moments remain underexploited by many other competitors.
What business leaders can do now
Mitigating the impact of AI Overviews on their search campaigns and overarching business visibility requires structural changes.
Map A.I. exposure precisely. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Identify exactly which search terms trigger AI Overviews, how frequently they appear, and on which devices. Industry benchmarks won’t help here, the impact varies widely depending on specific keywords, customer journey and device mix.
Rebuild content by authority, not promotion. The brands winning visibility in AI Overviews aren’t outspending competitors, they’re out-educating them. AI systems reward comprehensive, comparison-rich content that genuinely answers customer questions. Content strategies must shift from promotional messaging to authoritative resources. Think less about what you want to say and more about what your customers need to know.
Differentiate ads where A.I. cannot. Generic ad copy fades next to A.I. summaries. Ads need to offer something AI Overviews cannot: immediate value through deals, guarantees and limited-time offers. Take a contextual approach and layer in human elements such as real customer stories, accessible experts or personalized services, that build the trust A.I. summaries inherently lack.
Segment by device. Mobile and desktop search show dramatically different AI Overview patterns. Mobile screens give less real estate and higher AI Overview saturation. Test device-specific campaigns with tailored creative, adjusted bids and potentially different keyword strategies for mobile versus desktop traffic.
Build a testing culture, not a one-time fix. Google keeps adjusting when and where AI Overviews appear. The businesses that win will be those that monitor changes weekly and adjust tactics monthly. Set up dashboards, establish review cadences and empower teams to shift budget toward what’s working without waiting for quarterly planning cycles.
Play the long game. A.I.-mediated search is the new foundation of digital discovery. The companies that thrive will treat this as an opportunity to own their customer relationships rather than rent attention through intermediaries. Invest in owned assets: authoritative content, direct customer channels and brand strength that transcends any single platform’s algorithm.
Fundamentally, the search landscape has already changed. The strategic question is no longer whether to adapt, but how quickly organizations can adapt to a model where discovery, comparison and intent are mediated by machines. The companies that recognize it as a strategic imperative will find opportunities their competitors miss. They’ll move quickly, testing and learning rather than waiting for perfect information. They’ll diversify their approach, optimizing paid search performance while simultaneously investing in owned assets like comprehensive content, direct customer relationships and brand strength. And they’ll view AI Overviews not as an obstacle to overcome but as a new dimension of the search landscape to master, requiring evolved paid search strategies that work with A.I. rather than against it.
The top spot on Google’s search results page still matters. But now, earning it requires a completely different playbook. The businesses that recognize this shift early, invest in visibility they can measure and build authority that A.I. systems reward, will be better positioned to compete as generative search becomes the default interface for digital commerce.
YouTube is rolling out new parental controls designed to give families more say over how much time teens spend scrolling through Shorts.
Parents can now set daily time limits or block Shorts entirely, depending on what works best for their household. The update comes as concerns grow around endless scrolling and its impact on teens.
YouTube says these tools are meant to support healthier viewing habits while still allowing young users to enjoy the platform in a more balanced way.
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Why YouTube is focusing on Shorts
Parents can now set a daily time limit for YouTube Shorts, including an option to block Shorts entirely. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin, File)
Short-form video has become one of the most addictive parts of social media, especially for teens. The constant scroll can make it hard to stop watching, even when kids are supposed to be studying or winding down for bed. YouTube says the new controls respond to feedback from parents, advocates, and lawmakers who want stronger safeguards for young users. The goal is to give families flexibility instead of forcing an all-or-nothing approach.
What parents can now control on YouTube
If you supervise a teen’s Google account, you can now:
Set a daily time limit for YouTube Shorts
Block Shorts entirely by setting the limit to zero minutes
Turn on bedtime reminders
Enable take-a-break alerts
Manage supervised teen accounts across multiple devices
YouTube also says it is adjusting how content is recommended to teens, placing more emphasis on videos tied to curiosity, life skills, inspiration, and credible information that supports well-being.
How parents limit or block YouTube Shorts for teens
Before you start, make sure:
Your teen is using a supervised Google account
You have access to Google Family Link
Your teen is signed into YouTube on their device with that supervised account
Step-by-step instructions
Open the Google Family Link app on your phone or tablet (iPhone or Android).
Tap your teen’s profile.
Tap Controls, then select YouTube.If YouTube does not appear, confirm the account is set up as supervised.
If YouTube does not appear, confirm the account is set up as supervised.
Tap Screen time or Shorts settings.
Find the option labeled Shorts daily limit.
Choose how much time your teen can scroll Shorts each day:Set a time limit to allow limited scrollingSet the limit to zero minutes to block Shorts entirely
Set a time limit to allow limited scrolling
Set the limit to zero minutes to block Shorts entirely
In the same section, turn on:Take a break remindersBedtime reminders
YouTube’s supervised account settings let parents choose age-appropriate content and manage how teens experience the platform.(StockPlanets/Getty Images)
What happens when your teen reaches the Shorts limit
Once the daily limit is reached:
The Shorts feed locks
A message explains that the daily limit has been reached
Shorts unlock automatically the next day
Regular, long-form YouTube videos remain available unless you restrict them separately through screen-time controls.
Important things parents should know
Teens cannot change or bypass Shorts limits on their own
Limits apply across all devices signed into the supervised account
Shorts controls are separate from overall YouTube screen-time limits
Blocking Shorts does not block standard YouTube videos
Other parental tools worth checking
Beyond Shorts, parents can also:
Turn off autoplay
Review watch and search history
Adjust content recommendations
Pause YouTube during homework or sleep hours
These options are managed through Google Family Link, with guidance and account setup available in YouTube’s Family Center.
What this means to you
If you are a parent or guardian, these controls give you more practical ways to manage screen time without banning YouTube entirely. You can limit Shorts during school nights, allow more time on long trips, or block them when focus matters most. Instead of relying on willpower alone, families now have built-in tools that help reinforce healthy habits.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Short-form video is not going away, but the way teens interact with it can change. YouTube’s new parental controls show a shift toward giving families more flexibility and clearer boundaries. Used alongside conversations about online habits, these tools can make a real difference. Oh, and be sure to check out my new “Beyond Connected” podcast on YouTube.
YouTube says these new parental controls are designed to reduce endless scrolling and support healthier viewing habits for teens.(Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How much control do you think parents should have over teens’ screen time, and where should the line be drawn? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
Waymo announced Thursday that its robotaxi service is now available to and from San Francisco International Airport, ahead of upcoming major events in the Bay Area including the Super Bowl and World Cup.
The autonomous vehicle company said in a blog post access to SFO is being offered to “a select number of riders”, which will expand gradually over the coming months.
“Serving rides to and from San Francisco International Airport delivers one of the most requested features for our riders and further deepens our relationship with the city,” said Tekedra Mawakana, the company’s co-CEO. “With millions traveling in for major events this year, we look forward to meeting the growing demand for reliable, fully autonomous rides.”
Initially, Waymo will conduct pickups and drop-offs at the Rental Car Center, which connects to the terminals via AirTrain. The company said there are plans in the future to serve additional airport locations, including the terminals.
“As the global gateway to a region of innovation, this new option demonstrates our continued commitment to providing an extraordinary travel experience with transportation options that are safe, sustainable, and reliable,” said airport director Mike Nakornkhet.
While many riders are excited, some others are concerned that the autonomous cars are just not ready for busy airports.
Mark Gruberg has been driving taxis for roughly 40 years. He said that if Waymos are eventually allowed to go directly to the terminal, he sees major problems in the future.
“Any one car can paralyze the airport entrances and exits if it’s in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gruberg said. “These vehicles have not shown, in my mind, they have not yet shown they’re capable of handling places as busy as crazy and as sensitive as an airport.”
Gruberg also worries about Waymos operating at higher speeds on the highway. And with the airport, he said that without a driver behind the wheel, he wonders what would happen if there were ever a cyber-attack or a terrorism threat.
“It’s a tremendous difference having a driver in the car because the driver can smell out some problem that’s in the making and very possibly stop it from happening,” he said.
While there are already many transportation options to get to the airport, San Francisco resident Carl Penny feels SFO could use another addition.
“San Francisco is a pretty busy place,” Penny said. “Especially the airport. I’ve seen thousands of people come and go throughout the day. It’s definitely needed.”
The launch of SFO service comes less than three months after robotaxi service was expanded to San Jose Mineta International Airport. Waymo also offers robotaxi service to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
In the Bay Area, Waymo offers rides to most of San Francisco, parts of the Peninsula and in some South Bay communities, including Mountain View, Sunnyvale and parts of San Jose.
Google DeepMind is opening up access to Project Genie, its AI tool for creating interactive game worlds from text prompts or images.
Starting Thursday, Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S. can play around with the experimental research prototype, which is powered by a combination of Google’s latest world model Genie 3, its image generation model Nano Banana Pro, and Gemini.
Coming five months after Genie 3’s research preview, the move is part of a broader push to gather user feedback and training data as DeepMind races to develop more capable world models.
World models are AI systems that generate an internal representation of an environment, and can be used to predict future outcomes and plan actions. Many AI leaders, including those at DeepMind, believe world models are a crucial step to achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). But in the nearer term, labs like DeepMind envision a go-to-market plan that starts with video games and other forms of entertainment and branches out into training embodied agents (aka robots) in simulation.
“I think it’s exciting to be in a place where we can have more people access it and give us feedback,” Shlomi Fruchter, a research director at DeepMind, told TechCrunch via video interview, smiling ear-to-ear in clear excitement over Project Genie’s release.
DeepMind researchers that TechCrunch spoke to were upfront about the tool’s experimental nature. It can be inconsistent, sometimes impressively generating playable worlds, other times producing baffling results that miss the mark. Here’s how it works.
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A claymation-style castle in the sky made of marshmallows and candy.Image Credits:TechCrunch
You start with a “world sketch” by providing text prompts for both the environment and a main character, whom you will later be able to maneuver through the world in either first or third person view. Nano Banana Pro creates an image based on the prompts that you can, in theory, modify before Genie uses the image as a jumping off point for an interactive world. The modifications mostly worked, but the model occasionally stumbled and would give you purple hair when you asked for green.
You can also use real life photos as a baseline for the model to build a world on, which, again, was hit or miss. (More on that later.)
Once you’re satisfied with the image, it takes a few seconds for Project Genie to create an explorable world. You can also remix existing worlds into new interpretations by building on top of their prompts, or explore curated worlds in the gallery or via the randomizer tool for inspiration. You can then download videos of the world you just explored.
DeepMind is only granting 60 seconds of world generation and navigation at the moment, in part due to the budget and compute constraints. Because Genie 3 is an auto-regressive model, it takes a lot of dedicated compute – which puts a tight ceiling on how much DeepMind is able to provide to users.
“The reason we limit it to 60 seconds is because we wanted to bring it to more users,” Fruchter said. “Basically when you’re using it, there’s a chip somewhere that’s only yours and it’s being dedicated to your session.”
He added that extending it beyond 60 seconds would diminish the incremental value of the testing.
“The environments are interesting, but at some point, because of their level of interaction and the dynamism of the environment is somewhat limited. Still, we see that as a limitation we hope to improve on.”
Whimsy works, realism doesn’t
Google received a cease-and-desist from Disney last year, so it wouldn’t build models that were Disney-related.Image Credits:TechCrunch
When I used the model, the safety guardrails were already up and running. I couldn’t generate anything resembling nudity, nor could I generate worlds that even remotely sniffed of Disney or other copyrighted material. (In December, Disney hit Google with a cease-and-desist, accusing the firm’s AI models of copyright infringement by training on Disney’s characters and IP and generating unauthorized content, among other things.) I couldn’t even get Genie to generate worlds of mermaids exploring underwater fantasy lands or ice queens in their wintery castles.
Still, the demo was deeply impressive. The first world I built was an attempt to live out a small childhood fantasy, in which I could explore a castle in the clouds made up of marshmallows with a chocolate sauce river and trees made of candy. (Yes, I was a chubby kid.) I asked the model to do it in claymation style, and it delivered a whimsical world that childhood me would have eaten up, the castle’s pastel-and-white colored spires and turrets looking puffy and tasty enough to rip off a chunk and dunk it into the chocolate moat. (Video above.)
A “Game of Thrones” inspired world that failed to generate as photo-realistically as I wanted.Image Credits:TechCrunch
That said, Project Genie still has some kinks to work out.
The models excelled at creating worlds based on artistic prompts, like using watercolors, anime style or classic cartoon aesthetics. But it tended to fail when it came to photorealistic or cinematic worlds, often coming out looking like a video game rather than real people in a real setting.
It also didn’t always respond well when given real photos to work with. When I gave it a photo of my office and asked it to create a world based on the photo exactly as it was, it gave me a world that had some of the same furnishings of my office – a wooden desk, plants, a grey couch – laid out differently. And it looked sterile, digital, not lifelike.
When I fed it a photo of my desk with a stuffed toy, Project Genie animated the toy navigating the space, and even had other objects occasionally react as it moved past them.
That interactivity is something DeepMind is working on improving. There were several occasions when my characters walked right through walls or other solid objects.
I asked Project Genie to animate a stuffed toy (Bingo Bronson) so it could explore my desk. Image Credits:TechCrunch
When DeepMind released Genie 3 initially, researchers highlighted how the model’s auto-regressive architecture meant that it could remember what it had generated, so I wanted to test that by returning to parts of the environment it generated already to see if it would be the same. For the most part, the model succeeded. In one case, I generated a cat exploring yet another desk, and only once when I turned back to the right side of the desk did the model generate a second mug.
The part I found most frustrating was the way you navigated the space using the arrows to look around, the spacebar to jump or ascend, and the W-A-S-D keys to move. I’m not a gamer, so this didn’t come naturally to me, but the keys were often non-responsive, or they sent you in the wrong direction. Trying to walk from one side of the room to a doorway on the other side often became a chaotic zigzagging exercise, like trying to steer a shopping cart with a broken wheel.
Fruchter assured me that his team was aware of these shortcomings, reminding me again that Project Genie is an experimental prototype. In the future, he said, the team hopes to enhance the realism and improve interaction capabilities, including giving users more control over actions and environments.
“We don’t think about [Project Genie] as an end-to-end product that people can go back to everyday, but we think there is already a glimpse of something that’s interesting and unique and can’t be done in another way,” he said.
Google is the latest investor to back Redwood Materials as the battery recycling and cathode production startup scales a new energy storage venture to power AI data centers and other industrial sites.
Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, last October raised $350 million in a Series E round led by venture firm Eclipse. The round included a new strategic investment by Nvidia’s venture capital arm, NVentures.
More investors, including newcomer Google, have piled in since, pushing the Series E to $425 million, the company said. Existing investors Capricorn and Goldman Sachs have also returned with fresh investments.
The company’s valuation was not publicly disclosed, but a source familiar with the round told TechCrunch its post-money valuation was north of $6 billion, more than a billion higher than its previous valuation. This latest investment pushes Redwood’s total capital raised to $4.9 billion.
The attraction for Google, Nvidia, and others in this latest round appears to be energy storage — and its ability to power data centers — a newer business venture within Redwood.
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 to create a circular supply chain for batteries. It initially focused on recycling scrap from battery production and consumer electronics like cell phone batteries and laptop computers. Redwood processes that scrap and extracts materials that are traditionally mined, like nickel and lithium. The newly processed materials are then sold to customers such as Panasonic, which use them to make batteries.
Redwood has continued to expand its business beyond recycling. The Carson City, Nevada-based company added cathode production several years ago, and last summer, launched an energy-storage business that repurposes EV batteries that aren’t quite ready to be recycled and turns them into micro-grids that can supply power to AI data centers and large-scale industrial sites.
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That new business, called Redwood Energy, got its start as the demand for data centers skyrocketed.
“As electricity demand surges — driven by AI, data centers, manufacturing and electrification — energy storage is no longer optional; it is essential infrastructure,” the company said in a blog post announcing the new funding.
And Redwood seems to have the means to power at least some of those data centers. The company said in June it recovers more than 70% of all used or discarded battery packs in North America, many of which can have a second life as energy storage.
Redwood said last year it had more than 1 gigawatt-hour worth in its inventory and expected to receive another 4 gigawatt-hours over the coming months. The company expects to deploy 20 gigawatt-hours of grid-scale storage by 2028.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has moved to break Google’s “vice-like grip” on the search market with a sweeping new package of regulations.
Google’s dominance acts as a critical gateway for millions of UK citizens and over 200,000 businesses, who spent more than £10 billion on Google search advertising last year alone.
Targeting the tech giant’s 90% market share, the proposed measures represent the first major intervention under the UK’s new digital markets competition regime.
Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, described the proposals as “an important milestone,” stating that these “targeted and proportionate actions would give UK businesses and consumers more choice and control.”
A primary focus of the crackdown is “AI Overviews.” The CMA aims to ensure content publishers, specifically news organizations, have more transparency over how their work is used to train AI models.
Under the proposed rules, publishers could opt out of having their content power Google’s AI features. The regulator also insists that Google must ensure all publisher content is “properly attributed” in AI-generated results.
Further measures include a legal requirement for “choice screens” on Android mobile devices and the Chrome browser, designed to make switching to rival search engines effortless. Additionally, Google will be forced to prove that its ranking algorithms are fair and transparent, particularly regarding its own services.
The CMA is currently consulting on these requirements, with a deadline for feedback set for February 25, 2026. If implemented, the rules could fundamentally reshape the digital economy in the UK, providing what Cardell calls a “fairer deal for content publishers” and unlocking “greater opportunities for innovation across the UK tech sector.”
The consumer association Which? has welcomed the move but urged the regulator to accelerate its efforts. Says Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy:
“Google holds a vice-like grip over the search engine market, which shuts out other businesses and reduces choice and pushes up costs for consumers.
“These proposed requirements are needed to make sure businesses and consumers get a fair deal from Google. Wider availability of better choice screens are a necessary first step to opening up the market for other search tools.
“However, time is of the essence and the CMA has already fallen behind its timetable for change.It must move swiftly and the government must stand firmly behind the regulator.”
Google is bringing AI-powered photo editing to more users around the world, making it easier to fix your photos with simple text commands instead of complicated editing tools.
The company announced Tuesday that it’s expanding natural language-based editing in Google Photos to additional countries, including Australia, India, and Japan. The feature, which Google first launched for Pixel 10 users in the U.S. last August, lets people describe the changes they want to make to their photos rather than manually adjusting sliders or learning complex editing software.
Users in these newly supported countries will now see a “Help me Edit” box when they tap the edit option on a photo. From there, they can either select from suggested prompts or type their own requests in plain language. For example, you could ask the app to “remove the motorcycle in the background,” “reduce the background blur,” or use a more general command like “restore this old photo.”
The AI can handle surprisingly specific requests too. You can ask it to edit a friend’s pose, remove their glasses, or even have them open their eyes in a photo where they blinked. The feature uses Google’s Nano Banana image model to transform photos, and all the processing happens directly within the app without requiring an internet connection for the actual editing.
The feature will work on any Android device with at least 4GB of RAM running Android 8.0 or higher, meaning it’s not limited to Google’s own Pixel phones. Along with this geographic expansion, Google is also adding language support beyond English, including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, and Gujarati, making the tool accessible to millions more users in their native languages.
Google is also rolling out C2PA Content Credentials support in Google Photos for these countries. This metadata will indicate when an image was created or edited using AI. As AI-generated and AI-edited images become more common, social media platforms have been grappling with how to label AI content, and credentials like C2PA help users understand what they’re looking at.
The expansion is the latest in Google’s aggressive push to integrate AI throughout Google Photos. Last November, the company expanded AI-powered search capabilities to over 100 countries with support for more than 17 languages. It also introduced AI templates that can convert photos into different artistic styles. Just last week, Google rolled out a “Meme me” feature that lets users combine reference templates with their own images to create memes.
Google will pay $68 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging its voice-activated assistant secretly recorded private conversations to fuel targeted advertising.
Filed in a California federal court on Friday, the settlement addresses claims that Google Assistant frequently triggered without its “Hey Google” command, capturing sensitive discussions intended to remain private.
The legal challenge centered on “false acceptance,” where the software mistakenly identifies background noise or ordinary speech as a wake word. Plaintiffs argued that these accidental recordings were sent to Google’s servers, analyzed and shared with third-party advertisers.
While Google denied any wrongdoing and maintained it settled only to avoid protracted litigation, the deal marks a significant victory for privacy advocates.
Millions of Android and Google device owners may be eligible for a payout if they owned a Google-made device dating back to May 2016. The eligible devices include the Pixel smartphone series, Nest speakers, and Google Home units.
The settlement must still receive final approval from US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman before the funds can be distributed among the claimants.
This case mirrors a similar settlement reached by Apple, which recently agreed to pay $95 million over claims that its Siri assistant also recorded users without authorization.
As tech giants continue to integrate “always-on” microphones into household products, these legal outcomes are forcing a re-evaluation of how virtual assistants handle ambient audio and user consent.
Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged the technology giant’s voice assistant had illegally recorded users and then shared their private conversations with advertisers.
The preliminary settlement, filed January 23 in federal court in San Jose, California, requires approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by several Google device owners who claimed their conversations had been recorded without their knowledge. While Google stated that its voice assistant would only register people’s speech when consumers uttered an activation phrase, such as “Hey Google,” the consumers claimed that their devices recorded them even without using such language.
Some claimants alleged the Google devices recorded private conversations about financial issues, personal decisions and employment.
If the settlement is approved, Google will place $68 million in a fund that will pay all consumer claims, as well as court-approved attorneys’ fees and other costs.
Alphabet-owned Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS News.
Consumers will be able to submit claims for up to three Google devices, although how much individuals receive will depend on how many claims are submitted, according to the settlement.
The agreement is similar to an Apple class-action lawsuit that alleged its Siri voice assistant had eavesdropped on private or confidential conversations. Apple device owners are this month receiving payments from the $95 million settlement, ranging from about $8 to $40 per person.
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a serious threat hiding inside Google Chrome.
Several browser extensions pretend to be helpful tools. In reality, they quietly take over user accounts. These extensions impersonate popular human resources and business platforms such as Workday, NetSuite and SAP SuccessFactors. Once installed, they can steal login data and block security controls designed to protect users.
Many people who installed them had no warning signs that anything was wrong.
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Cybersecurity researchers warn that fake Google Chrome extensions are silently hijacking user accounts by stealing login data and bypassing security protections.(Bildquelle/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The fake Chrome extensions to watch out for
Security researchers from Socket’s Threat Research Team identified five malicious Chrome extensions connected to this campaign. The add-ons were marketed as productivity or security tools, but were designed to hijack accounts.
The extensions include:
DataByCloud Access
Tool Access 11
DataByCloud 1
DataByCloud 2
Software Access
We reached out to Google, and a spokesperson told CyberGuy that the extensions are no longer available on the Chrome Web Store. However, some are still available on third-party software download sites, which continues to pose a risk. If you see any of these names installed in your browser, remove them immediately.
Why malicious Chrome extensions look legitimate
These malicious add-ons are designed to look legitimate. They use professional names, polished dashboards and business-focused descriptions. Some claim to offer faster access to workplace tools. Others say they restrict user actions to protect company accounts. Privacy policies often promise that no personal data is collected. For people juggling daily work tasks or managing business accounts, the pitch sounds helpful rather than suspicious.
What these extensions actually do
After installation, the extensions operate silently in the background. They steal session cookies, which are small pieces of data that tell websites you are already logged in. When attackers get these cookies, they can access accounts without a password. At the same time, some extensions block access to security pages. Users may be unable to change passwords, disable accounts or review login history. One extension even allows criminals to insert stolen login sessions into another browser. That lets them sign in instantly as the victim.
Why malicious Chrome extensions are so dangerous
This attack goes beyond stealing credentials. It removes the ability to respond. Security teams may detect unusual activity, but cannot fix it through normal controls. Password changes fail. Account settings disappear. Two-factor authentication tools become unreachable. As a result, attackers can maintain access for long periods without being stopped.
How to check for these extensions on your computer
If you use Google Chrome, review your extensions now. The process only takes a few minutes.
Open Google Chrome
Click the three-dot menu in the top right corner
Select Extensions, then choose Manage Extensions
Review every extension listed
Look for unfamiliar names, especially those claiming to offer access to HR platforms or business tools.
Malicious Chrome add-ons disguised as productivity tools targeted users of popular business platforms like Workday, NetSuite and SAP SuccessFactors.(Photo by S3studio/Getty Images)
How to remove suspicious Chrome extensions
If you find one of these extensions, remove it immediately.
Open Manage Extensions in Chrome
Find the suspicious extension
Click Remove
Confirm when prompted
Restart your browser after removal to ensure the extension is fully disabled. If Chrome sync is enabled, repeat these steps on all synced devices before turning sync back on.
What to do after removing the extension
Removal is only the first step. Change passwords for any accounts accessed while the extension was installed. Use a different browser or device if possible.
A password manager can help you create strong, unique passwords for each account and store them securely. This reduces the risk of reused passwords being exploited again.
Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials.
Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2026 at Cyberguy.com.
Finally, review account activity for unfamiliar logins, locations or devices and be sure to follow the steps below to stay safe moving forward.
Ways to stay safe going forward
Simple habits can significantly reduce your risk.
1) Limit browser extensions
Only install extensions you truly need. The fewer extensions you use, the smaller your attack surface becomes.
2) Be cautious with add-ons
Avoid extensions that promise premium access or special tools for enterprise platforms. Legitimate companies rarely require browser add-ons for account access.
3) Check permissions carefully
Be wary of extensions that request access to cookies, browsing data or account management. These permissions can be abused to hijack sessions.
4) Review extensions regularly
Check your browser every few months and remove tools you no longer use or recognize.
Several fake browser extensions were removed from the Chrome Web Store after researchers linked them to account takeover attacks.(Photo Illustration by Serene Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
5) Use strong antivirus software
Strong antivirus software can help detect malicious extensions, block suspicious behavior and alert you to browser-based threats before damage occurs.
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.
Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.
6) Consider a data removal service
If your work or personal information has been exposed, a data removal service can help reduce your digital footprint by removing your details from data broker sites. This lowers the risk of follow-up scams or identity misuse.
While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.
Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.
7) Avoid third-party download sites
Do not reinstall extensions from third-party websites, even if they claim to offer the same features. These sites often host outdated or malicious versions.
Browser extensions can be useful, but this research shows how easily they can also be abused. These fake Chrome add-ons did not rely on flashy tricks or obvious warnings. They blended in, looked professional and quietly did their damage in the background. The good news is that you do not need to be a tech expert to protect yourself. Taking a few minutes to review your extensions, remove anything unfamiliar and lock down your accounts can make a real difference. Small habits, repeated regularly, go a long way in reducing risk. If there is one takeaway here, it is this: convenience should never come at the cost of security. A clean browser and strong account protections give you back control.
How many browser extensions do you have installed right now that you have never looked at twice? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
Google designed Fast Pair to make Bluetooth connections fast and effortless. One tap replaces menus, codes and manual pairing. That convenience now comes with serious risk. Security researchers at KU Leuven uncovered flaws in Google’s Fast Pair protocol that allows silent device takeovers. They named the attack method WhisperPair. An attacker nearby can connect to headphones, earbuds or speakers without the owner knowing. In some cases, the attacker can also track the user’s location. Even more concerning, victims do not need to use Android or own any Google products. iPhone users are also affected.
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Fast Pair makes connecting Bluetooth headphones quick, but researchers found that some devices accept new pairings without proper authorization. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What WhisperPair is and how it hijacks Bluetooth devices
Fast Pair works by broadcasting a device’s identity to nearby phones and computers. That shortcut speeds up pairing. Researchers found that many devices ignore a key rule. They still accept new pairings while already connected. That opens the door to abuse.
Within Bluetooth range, an attacker can silently pair with a device in about 10 to 15 seconds. Once connected, they can interrupt calls, inject audio or activate microphones. The attack does not require specialized hardware and can be carried out using a standard phone, laptop, or low-cost device like a Raspberry Pi. According to the researchers, the attacker effectively becomes the device owner.
Audio brands affected by the Fast Pair vulnerability
The researchers tested 17 Fast Pair compatible devices from major brands, including Sony, Jabra, JBL, Marshall, Xiaomi, Nothing, OnePlus, Soundcore, Logitech and Google. Most of these products passed Google certification testing. That detail raises uncomfortable questions about how security checks are performed.
How headphones can become tracking devices
Some affected models create an even bigger privacy issue. Certain Google and Sony devices integrate with Find Hub, which uses nearby devices to estimate location. If a headset has never been linked to a Google account, an attacker can claim it first. That allows continuous tracking of the user’s movements. If the victim later receives a tracking alert, it may appear to reference their own device. That makes the warning easy to dismiss as an error.
Attacker’s dashboard with location from the Find Hub network.(KU Leuven)
Why many Fast Pair devices may stay vulnerable
There is another problem most users never consider. Headphones and speakers require firmware updates. Those updates usually arrive through brand-specific apps that many people never install. If you never download the app, you never see the update. That means vulnerable devices could remain exposed for months or even years.
The only way to fix this vulnerability is by installing a software update issued by the device manufacturer. While many companies have released patches, updates may not yet be available for every affected model. Users should check directly with the manufacturer to confirm whether a security update exists for their specific device.
Why convenience keeps creating security gaps
Bluetooth itself was not the problem. The flaw lives in the convenience layer built on top of it. Fast Pair prioritized speed over strict ownership enforcement. Researchers argue that pairing should require cryptographic proof of ownership. Without it, convenience features become attack surfaces. Security and ease of use do not have to conflict. But they must be designed together.
Google responds to the Fast Pair WhisperPair security flaws
Google says it has been working with researchers to address the WhisperPair vulnerabilities and began sending recommended patches to headphone manufacturers in early September. Google also confirmed that its own Pixel headphones are now patched.
In a statement to CyberGuy, a Google spokesperson said, “We appreciate collaborating with security researchers through our Vulnerability Rewards Program, which helps keep our users safe. We worked with these researchers to fix these vulnerabilities, and we have not seen evidence of any exploitation outside of this report’s lab setting. As a best security practice, we recommend users check their headphones for the latest firmware updates. We are constantly evaluating and enhancing Fast Pair and Find Hub security.”
Google says the core issue stemmed from some accessory makers not fully following the Fast Pair specification. That specification requires accessories to accept pairing requests only when a user has intentionally placed the device into pairing mode. According to Google, failures to enforce that rule contributed to the audio and microphone risks identified by the researchers.
To reduce the risk going forward, Google says it updated its Fast Pair Validator and certification requirements to explicitly test whether devices properly enforce pairing mode checks. Google also says it provided accessory partners with fixes intended to fully resolve all related issues once applied.
On the location tracking side, Google says it rolled out a server-side fix that prevents accessories from being silently enrolled into the Find Hub network if they have never been paired with an Android device. According to the company, this change addresses the Find Hub tracking risk in that specific scenario across all devices, including Google’s own accessories.
Researchers, however, have raised questions about how quickly patches reach users and how much visibility Google has into real-world abuse that does not involve Google hardware. They also argue that weaknesses in certification allowed flawed implementations to reach the market at scale, suggesting broader systemic issues.
For now, both Google and the researchers agree on one key point. Users must install manufacturer firmware updates to be protected, and availability may vary by device and brand.
Unwanted tracking notification showing the victim’s own device.(KU Leuven)
How to reduce your risk right now
You cannot disable Fast Pair entirely, but you can lower your exposure.
1) Check if your device is affected
If you use a Bluetooth accessory that supports Google Fast Pair, including wireless earbuds, headphones or speakers, you may be affected. The researchers created a public lookup tool that lets you search for your specific device model and see whether it is vulnerable. Checking your device is a simple first step before deciding what actions to take. Visit whisperpair.eu/vulnerable-devices to see if your device is on the list.
2) Update your audio devices
Install the official app from your headphone or speaker manufacturer. Check for firmware updates and apply them promptly.
3) Avoid pairing in public places
Pair new devices in private spaces. Avoid pairing in airports, cafés or gyms where strangers are nearby.
4) Factory reset if something feels off
Unexpected audio interruptions, strange sounds or dropped connections are warning signs. A factory reset can remove unauthorized pairings, but it does not fix the underlying vulnerability. A firmware update is still required.
5) Turn off Bluetooth when not needed
Bluetooth only needs to be on during active use. Turning off Bluetooth when not in use limits exposure, but it does not eliminate the underlying risk if the device remains unpatched.
6) Reset secondhand devices
Always factory reset used headphones or speakers before pairing them. This removes hidden links and account associations.
7) Take tracking alerts seriously
Investigate Find Hub or Apple tracking alerts, even if they appear to reference your own device.
8) Keep your phone updated
Install operating system updates promptly. Platform patches can block exploit paths even when accessories lag behind.
Kurt’s key takeaways
WhisperPair shows how small shortcuts can lead to large privacy failures. Headphones feel harmless. Yet they contain microphones, radios and software that need care and updates. Ignoring them leaves a blind spot that attackers are happy to exploit. Staying secure now means paying attention to the devices you once took for granted.
Should companies be allowed to prioritize fast pairing over cryptographic proof of device ownership? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
If your Gmail account doesn’t seem to be working properly today, you’re not alone.
The official status dashboard for Google Workspace suggests that the issues began at around 5am Pacific on Saturday morning, with users experiencing both “misclassification of emails in their inbox and additional spam warnings.”
For me, that meant my Primary inbox was filled with messages that would normally appear in the Promotions, Social, or Updates inboxes, and that spam warnings were appearing in emails from known senders.
“We are actively working to resolve the issue,” Google said. “As always, we encourage users to follow standard best practices when engaging with messages from unknown senders.”
TechCrunch has reached out to Google for additional comment.
