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App delisting cannot be permitted: Vaishnaw on Google-Indian startups row

Taking a strong view of Google pulling off some apps from its Play Store, the government on Saturday said delisting of Indian apps cannot be permitted and that the tech company and the startups concerned have been called for a meeting next week. In an interview to PTI, IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the startup ecosystem is key to the Indian economy and their fate cannot be left to any big tech to decide. The minister's comments assume significance as Google on Friday began removing some apps, including popular matrimony apps, from its Play Store in India over a dispute on service fee payments, even as apps and well-known startup founders cried foul. Taking a serious view of the issue, Vaishnaw said: "India is very clear, our policy is very clear...our startups will get the protection that they need." The minister said the government will be meeting Google and app developers who have been delisted, next week, to resolve the dispute. "I have already called Google...I

Never received notice from Google: Sanjeev Bikhchandani on removal of apps

Info Edge founder said that the only app in contention was Jeevansathi, and it was complied with on February 9

Info Edge's Naukri, Shiksha, 99 acres removed from Google Play Store

Info Edge (India) Ltd on Saturday said its mobile apps, including naukri.com, 99 acres.com, and shiksha.com have been removed from Google Play Store. This comes a day after Google began removing some apps, including popular matrimony apps, from its Play Store in India over a dispute on service fee payments. Google has said that 10 companies in the country, including "many well-established" had avoided paying fees despite benefiting from the platform. "We would like to inform you that the company's mobile applications (viz. Naukri.com Job Search App, Naukri Recruiter, Naukrigulf Job Search App, 99acres Buy/Sell/Rent Property and Shiksha), have been removed/delisted from Google Play Store today by Google, along with several mobile applications of other companies/entities as well," Info Edge (India) Ltd said in a BSE filing. It said the action comes as a surprise to the company as it was taken without giving due and sufficient notice by Google. Info Edge clarified that users who alre

Google slashes jobs in trust & safety while others work 'around the clock'

Google is increasing its reliance on its trust and safety staff, even if it's doing so with fewer people

Google to act against 10 Indian developers for not paying service fee

'10 companies, including many well-established ones, have chosen to not pay for the immense value they receive on Google Play,' Google said in a blog post

US judge calls Google playstore's $700 million settlement bad for customers

The lawsuits threatened billions of dollars in revenue generated by the sale and distribution of apps through Google Play

Gemini not reliable on political topics: Google on chatbot's response on PM

Under fire over AI tool Gemini's objectionable response and bias to a question on PM Narendra Modi, Google on Saturday said it has worked quickly to address the issue and conceded that the chatbot "may not always be reliable" in responding to certain prompts related to current events and political topics. On Friday, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had warned that Google's AI tool Gemini's response to a question around the Prime Minister is in direct violation of IT rules as well as several provisions of the criminal code. Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for IT and Electronics, had taken cognizance of the issue raised by verified accounts of a journalist alleging bias in Google Gemini in response to a question on Modi while it gave no clear answer when a similar question was asked for Trump and Zelenskyy. In an e-mail statement, a Google spokesperson said, "We've worked quickly to address this issue." Google further said Gemini is built as a creativity and productivity tool and

Google AI tool's response on PM in violation of IT rules: Chandrasekhar

Google's AI tool Gemini's response to a question around Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in direct violation of IT rules as well as several provisions of the criminal code, minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday. The minister took cognizance of the issue raised by verified accounts of a journalist alleging bias in Google Gemini in response to a question on Modi while it gave no clear answer when a similar question was tossed for Trump and Zelenskyy. "These are direct violations of Rule 3(1)(b) of Intermediary Rules (IT rules) of the IT act and violations of several provisions of the Criminal code," Chandrasekhar said on social media platform X. The minister marked the post to Google and the Ministry of Electronics and IT indicating further action in the matter. The journalist has shared a screenshot in which a question was asked to Google Gemini about Modi. In response, Gemini made uncharitable comments about Prime Minister Modi but was circums

Google to initiate anti-misinformation campaign ahead of EU elections

Viewers watching the ads on YouTube will be asked to fill in a short multiple-choice questionnaire, designed to gauge what they have learned about misinformation

AI frenzy puts Nvidia briefly ahead of Amazon in market value: Report

The last time Nvidia was more valuable than Amazon was in 2002, when they were each worth under $6 billion

Google parent Alphabet ad revenue disappoints, capex up; shares sink 6%

While Google Cloud's revenue topped Wall Street targets and growth rebounded with a boost from AI, Microsoft's Azure grew faster in the same period

Google lays off hundreds working on Assistant software, other parts of firm

A few hundred roles are being eliminated in the company's Devices and Services team, with the majority in the 1P AR hardware team, the company said

After Google, Amazon announces job cuts; hundreds to get pink slips

The latest job cuts by Amazon will impact the employees of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. The news coincided with Google's similar announcement to layoff employees on Wednesday

Global corporate landscape 2023: Mergers, closures, and leadership shifts

From acquisitions & mergers to resignations 2023 has been a year of significant milestones in the global corporate world. Here is a recap on all the major event that unfolded in 2023

Google, Meta, Qualcomm team up to push for open digital ecosystems

Calling itself the Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE), the group said it wants to promote more open platforms and systems to boost growth and innovation in Europe

Gemini 1.0: What's new with Google's latest AI model and how it works

Google rolls out Gemini AI to Bard and Pixel Pro smartphones, coming to Search, Chrome and more soon

Alphabet launches Gemini, an AI- based model it hopes will take down GPT-4

Called Gemini, the Google owner's highly anticipated AI model is capable of more sophisticated reasoning and understanding information with a greater degree of nuance than Google's prior technology

Russian court fines Google for failing to store personal data on its users

A Russian court on Tuesday fined Google for failing to store personal data on its Russian users, the latest in a series of fines on the tech giant amid tensions between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine. A magistrate at Moscow's Tagansky district court fined Google 15 million rubles (around $164,200) after the IT company repeatedly refused to store personal data on Russian citizens in Russia. Google was previously fined over the same charges in August 2021 and June 2022 under a Russian law that obliges foreign entities to localise the personal data of their Russian users. The US tech giant was also ordered to pay a 3-million-ruble (about $32,800) fine in August for failing to delete allegedly false information about the conflict in Ukraine. However, Russia can do little to collect the fine, as Google's Russia business was effectively shut down last year after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. The company has said it filed for bankruptcy in Russia after its bank account was

Alphabet to pay $40 million to Match to settle Google Play antitrust battle

Lawyers representing Match and Google said in a court filing Tuesday they've agreed to drop all claims and counterclaims against each other

Paid $26 billion to be default search engine, says Google's Raghavan

The amount of money Google has paid other companies for default status for its search engine has more than tripled since 2014, Raghavan said