Google Gemini

UK Announces £1.6 Billion National AI Strategy to Boost Research and Innovation The UK’s primary public research funder, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), has launched its first national strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into the nation’s science and research sectors. This landmark initiative is backed by a record £1.6 billion in funding for the AI sector, allocated between now and 2030. The strategy is designed to leverage AI for driving innovations across diverse fields, including healthcare, public services, and clean energy. The investment will concentrate on six key areas: advancing AI technology, developing skills and talent, and promoting responsible and trustworthy AI. UKRI-funded AI projects are already demonstrating significant impact, such as a system for detecting faults on the railway network and another that aids in analyzing brain scans for diseases like Alzheimer’s. ...

New AI System Enhances At-Home Balance Training for Physical Therapy Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new machine learning model to support home-based balance training for physical therapy patients. The system utilizes data from four wearable sensors to predict how a physical therapist would assess a patient’s performance on balance exercises. This AI-driven feedback can help patients make faster progress and maintain their abilities after their formal therapy sessions have concluded. The model was developed by training convolutional neural networks with sensor data and evaluations from physical therapists, achieving nearly 90% accuracy in predicting patient balance ratings. The technology aims to make balance training more accessible, particularly for those in rural areas, and to assist physical therapists in making healthcare decisions. ...

Leaked Trump Administration Draft Order Aims to Block State AI Laws A leaked draft executive order from a potential Trump administration reveals a plan to preempt states from enacting their own artificial intelligence laws. The proposed order suggests using the withholding of federal funds, including from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, as leverage against states that implement “onerous” AI regulations. The document also outlines the creation of a Department of Justice task force to legally challenge state-level AI legislation. This move is widely seen as an attempt to establish a single federal standard for AI, a position President Trump has previously supported on social media. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from civil society groups, who argue it represents federal overreach and undermines state-level consumer protection efforts. ...

Galbot Unveils DexNDM & NavFoM: Major Breakthroughs in Embodied AI for Robotics Robotics firm Galbot has announced two significant technological advancements in embodied intelligence: DexNDM and NavFoM. DexNDM is a neural dynamics model designed to enhance robotic dexterous manipulation, enabling robots to perform high-precision, in-hand rotations of various objects. NavFoM is presented as the world’s first cross-embodiment, cross-task navigation foundation model, allowing robots to autonomously perform complex tasks in diverse environments. These innovations, developed with Tsinghua and Peking University, integrate DexNDM into a teleoperation system for intricate tasks like tightening screws with high-level human commands. These advancements are poised to revolutionize industries like manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare by improving the adaptability and efficiency of robots in real-world settings. ...

Google Launches Gemini Enterprise: AI Agents for the Workplace Google has officially launched Gemini Enterprise, a new platform designed to integrate powerful AI agents into workplace workflows. This new offering consolidates Google’s AI models, including the new Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, with a no-code workbench for building and managing these agents. The platform aims to automate complex business processes and significantly increase productivity across organizations. Gemini Enterprise will feature pre-built agents for specialized tasks and will integrate with company data through connectors for systems like Microsoft Teams and Salesforce. The service is priced starting at $30 per user per month. To support adoption, Google is also launching a free learning platform, Google Skills, with a program that aims to enable one million developers to build and deploy agents. ...

Weekly Tech News: AI, Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles & Cloud Innovations Google’s Gemini 2.5 AI Wins Gold Medal in Global Programming Contest A specialized version of Google DeepMind’s Gemini 2.5 AI model, known as Deep Think, has achieved a gold medal-level ranking at the prestigious International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). Held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the competition featured 139 of the world’s top university programming teams. Gemini 2.5 Deep Think successfully solved 10 of the 12 complex algorithmic problems, placing it second overall compared to the human teams. ...

AI Roundup: NASA’s Alien Hunt, DoD Intelligence, and LLM Security Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are making an impact across diverse sectors. A NASA-funded project is now leveraging AI to aid in the search for extraterrestrial life. In the defense sector, a new partnership between SMX and Google Public Sector aims to deliver AI-driven intelligence solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense. Meanwhile, Cloudflare has launched a new initiative focused on enhancing the security of Large Language Models (LLMs). ...