Google Gemini replaces Assistant from September, govt warns Meta

Google will fully replace Assistant with Gemini on Android and WearOS from September, with no option to switch back, Business Today reports. In the same period, Flipkart and Amazon are expected to offer major price cuts on iPhones and other devices during their upcoming sales.

On the hardware front, vivo has launched the S2 in the premium mid-range segment, powered by the Dimensity 7360-Turbo chip, starting at Rs 39,999. Xiaomi is releasing the budget-friendly Redmi Note 17 on major online platforms this week. Meanwhile, the Indian smartphone market has hit a five-year low as the sub-Rs 10,000 segment shrinks rapidly.

In regulatory news, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has formally apologised to the Indian government over deepfakes and erroneous video takedowns. The government has issued warnings regarding legal safe harbour protections for the company. Separately, Spotify is introducing AI Persona labels to identify synthetic artists, and xAI has launched the Grok Bot. Honor has unveiled a robot phone with a mechanical gimbal camera for automated tracking.