2 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Google

The name Google is synonymous with online searches, but over the years the company has grown beyond search and now builds multiple consumer products, including software like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Android, and hardware like the Pixel smartphones, Google Home, and Chromebooks. Its name can also be found on internet services such as Google Fi, Flights, Checkout, and Google Fiber. Here is all of the latest news about one of the most influential tech companies in the world.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Google is adding a feature for sharing your Gemini chats through Drive.

The new Google Workspace feature, rolling out to users starting June 3rd, adds an option to share a snapshot of Gemini conversations using Google Drive’s sharing interface. As Neowin reports, whoever you share Gemini chats with can continue them, but “those new changes do not alter the owner’s original thread.”

A screenshot of the Google Drive sharing window in Gemini
Image: Google
Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
Court lets Texas’ app store age verification law take effect, for now.

In a brief order, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Texas to move forward with implementing its App Store Accountability Act while the case seeking to block it plays out. It’s an early test of a method that is being considered across several states, and in Congress.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
The Pixel Buds app is getting in on Google’s icon redesign.

As spotted by Android Authority, the Pixel Buds app is getting updated with a new icon in the same style as the recently-updated Google Workspace icons. Google is also tweaking the app’s landing page, which will now show all the Pixel Buds headphones paired with your phone on one screen.

The redesigned Pixel Buds app icon
Image: Google
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Your preferred sources for Google will now be highlighted in AI searches.

If you’ve set up preferred sources — like, say, The Verge — they’ll be labeled in AI Overviews and AI Mode, according to Google. The company says that “people are twice as likely to click through to a Preferred Source.”

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

A screenshot of Google’s AI Mode showing Preferred sources.
Image: Google
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
An update on Google’s “disregard” issue.

Since Friday, Google hasn’t shown an AI Overview for the word “disregard.” The term was making AI Overviews “disregard” instructions instead of giving an AI search result summary.

As of this morning, however, when I search for “disregard,” Google shows an old-school featured snippet with the definition, sourced from vocabulary.com. I prefer this, but I assume the AI Overview will return soon enough.

A screenshot showing the Google search result for the word “disregard.”
Image: Google
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
People sure do hate Google’s AI Search updates.

Since Google announced its Search box overhaul at I/O last week, DuckDuckGo says its own iOS installs have increased by an average of 33 percent week over week in the US. Visits to the “No AI” version of DuckDuckGo’s search platform also jumped by up to 27.7 percent compared to the week prior.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Google is officially talking about the new Workspace app icons.

We started seeing them in our apps earlier this month, but Google said Tuesday that it’s rolling out the icons over the “next several weeks.” I’m not a fan of the changes — the Gmail and Sheets ones look particularly bad to me — but I suppose I’ll get used to them over time.

What do you think?

An image showing new Google Workspace app icons.
Image: Google
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Google’s AI is sometimes confused if 2027 is next year.

As noted on Bluesky, if you search “is it 2027 next year,” Google’s AI Overviews occasionally state that 2027 is two years from now. But this apparently isn’t even a new issue: when I got AI Overviews to mess up, it cited old Instagram and Reddit posts making fun of wrong responses to the same query.

By the way, Google still isn’t showing an AI Overview when you search “disregard.” AI Overviews are going just great!

A screenshot of the Google Search query, “is it 2027 next year.”
Here’s the Instagram post that Google is sourcing from.
Image: Google
Sundar Pichai on AI, the future of search, and what’s happening to the web
Play

How Google’s CEO is reshaping the company — and the internet.

Nilay Patel
Google’s new anything-to-anything AI model is wild

Omni sent my kid’s stuffie rafting and deepfaked me in front of the Eiffel Tower. But it’s not quite the singularity.

Allison Johnson
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Google says it hasn’t cut off updates for most old Chromecasts.

9to5Google reported Friday morning that a Nest support page had been updated to say that nearly all Chromecast devices except for the most recent one that was released in 2022 were no longer receiving critical security updates. Later, the page changed back and once again shows all Chromecasts except the 1st gen version are still getting critical updates.

Now, Google Home senior product manager Sahana Mysore tells The Verge that “A support article update incorrectly indicated deprecation of software support for legacy Chromecast devices,” and the current version is accurate.

Update: Added response from Google.

A screenshot of a Google Nest support page
A screenshot of a Google Nest support page
1/2
The support page, before the update (with our highlights added)…
Screenshot: Google
Jacob Kastrenakes
Jacob Kastrenakes
Google has taken a side in the Spotify disco ball debate.

Pixel users can now AI-generate disco ball-style icons for their entire phone. Haters, shield your eyes.

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Google is turning Google Home into a “full-stack AI offering.”

It’s combining Google Home APIs with Gemini smart home features, so ISPs, security companies, and carriers can “build monetizable, proactive services” for your homes. In other words, Google wants other companies to put Google Home’s AI in their products — and charge you a Google Home Premium subscription. With manufacturers now able to build Gemini-powered speakers and cameras, it seems entirely possible that Google may never make another Nest device again.

The cost of the smart home is going upThe cost of the smart home is going up
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
More Google Home speakers could be on the way.

While the Google Home Speaker was nowhere to be seen at I/O, the company did announce it’s getting back into the third-party smart speaker game. A new Speaker Reference Design will let manufacturers build Gemini-powered smart speakers, and rumors point to a Walmart Onn speaker being the first.

Google also announced it’s letting companies bundle Google Home Premium subscriptions and integrate more Gemini for Home features into their apps.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

The as-yet-unreleased Google Home Speaker could be getting some friends.
The as-yet-unreleased Google Home Speaker could be getting some friends.
Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
CapCut editing is coming to Gemini.

CapCut announced on X that users will “soon” be able to edit images and videos directly within the Gemini app using CapCut’s editing capabilities.

“As creative workflows become more connected and seamless, we believe the future of creation will be more conversational, intuitive, and intelligently integrated across tools and experiences.”

‘Solve all diseases,’ you say?

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis made a bold claim at this year’s I/O keynote. Not so fast!

Victoria Song
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Google Flow Music is getting a dedicated mobile app.

It’s already available on iOS, and coming to Android soon. Google is also adding granular editing tools for changing portions of an AI-generated song, tweaking beat drops, or rewriting lyrics. It’s also adding the ability to generate “covers” and music videos, so you can countrify that punk song you prompted.

If Google can’t make AI agents useful, maybe no one can

Google has been working on agentic AI for years. Building on the viral success of OpenClaw could finally tip the scales.

Hayden Field
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Google’s big ask.

Yesterday Emma Roth wrote that Google’s pitch for AI at I/O demands both your trust and your personal data. Going by the comment section, that’s a trade many of you are no longer willing to make.

monterxz:

Google lost the first long ago and will never get any more of the second out of me.

Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Google’s Find Hub gets location sharing notifications.

The Find Hub app on Android has been updated, allowing you to create notifications for when someone arrives or leaves a set location, like home or work. The person you’re tracking will be alerted to the notifications, and can disable them at any time.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Google is launching an Android version of its AI Studio vibe coding tool.

The app, which you can pre-register for on Google Play, will let you use AI and prompts to starting building other apps.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

A screenshot from the Google Play listing for the AI Studio app.
Image: Google