Google stories

Google has launched an open Universal Commerce Protocol to standardise AI shopping flows across search, apps, merchants and payments.

Google has unveiled Disco, a Labs testbed debuting GenTabs, an AI tool that turns browsing activity and prompts into web apps.

Cloudflare acquires UK AI marketplace Human Native to give creators more control and pay for data used to train and run AI systems.

Harmonic finds six genAI apps drive 92.6% of enterprise data exposure risk, with ChatGPT alone responsible for more than 70% of cases.

BioCatch warns AI shopping agents will turbocharge online fraud, urging banks and retailers to distinguish helpful bots from criminal misuse.

Outdoor Outlook launches in New Zealand, giving trampers and other outdoor lovers personalised, colour-coded weather-based activity tips.

Microsoft again tops global phishing brand list as attackers increasingly mimic big tech services to steal cloud and consumer credentials.

Cloudflare snaps up Human Native in bid to reshape how AI models pay for online content, promising new tools for pricing and discovery.

Singapore’s Agnes AI hits 5m users in six months and open-sources its SEA-focused 8B-language model to cut reliance on foreign tech stacks.

Apple will build its next-generation AI foundation models on Google’s Gemini cloud, promising a more personalised Siri later this year.

Google launches a Universal Commerce Protocol and Business Agent tools as it bets on AI agents to drive the next era of online shopping.

Google launches Universal Commerce Protocol to link AI shopping agents, retailers and payments in a new ‘agentic commerce’ push.

Ant backs Google’s new Universal Commerce Protocol to standardise how AI agents handle shopping, payments and post-purchase support.

CrowdStrike moves deeper into browser security with Seraphic buy, tying in SGNL identity tech to protect in-session activity and AI use.

Vespertec says AI growth will slam into hard data centre limits by 2026, as chip, memory and cooling bottlenecks reshape infrastructure plans.

Google Cloud unveils Gemini CX AI platform to link retail and restaurant shopping, service and ordering into one joined-up experience.

AI-powered ‘Truman Show’ scam uses OPCOPRO app and fake trading rooms in official stores to steal cash and victims’ digital identities.

Black Friday still delivered the peak online surge, but AI-driven search stretched shopping demand across a longer November window.

AI coding tools are set for a 2026 reset as enterprises pivot from ‘vibe coding’ experiments to architecture-first, governed co-developers.

AI SRE, GPU-aware schedulers and autonomous ops are set to overhaul how large enterprises run Kubernetes clusters by 2026.