u/OkiDokiPoki22

Google has announced a sweeping transformation of Search powered by agentic AI — replacing the traditional results page with custom-built interactive interfaces, autonomous 24/7 agents that monitor your interests, and dynamic generative UI that adapts to each query in real time.

Key Details:

• Google rolled out a sweeping expansion of AI-powered Search at I/O 2026, anchored by Gemini 3.5 Flash and featuring Antigravity, an agentic coding system that dynamically generates custom dashboards, simulations, trackers, and interactive layouts.
• Information agents operate 24/7 in the background, allowing users to stay updated on ongoing topics without repeatedly searching — for example, "Keep me updated on nearby movie tickets for 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'" will trigger notifications when relevant content appears.
• The Search box itself received its biggest overhaul in over 25 years, now supporting longer, more conversational queries using text, images, videos, files, and even Chrome tabs, with AI-generated suggestions refining prompts in real time.
• Generative UI capabilities let Search build custom interactive responses on the fly — including visual tools, simulations, tables, graphs, and dynamic layouts — arriving for all users free this summer.
• AI Mode surpassed one billion monthly users within a year, with queries more than doubling every quarter, and Google now processing 3.2 quadrillion tokens per month across its platforms — up 7x from last year.
• Mini-app-building features and information agents will roll out first to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers this summer, with the new search box arriving this week.
• Search results will increasingly resemble interactive web pages rather than traditional blue links, fundamentally changing the pressure on publishers and marketers whose business models depend on direct website traffic.

Why It Matters: Google is no longer competing on search results — it's competing on task completion. By moving Search from an information-retrieval tool to an autonomous digital assistant that plans, executes, and monitors tasks on your behalf, Google is accelerating the shift away from the web as users know it, with profound implications for online publishing, advertising, and user attention.

I just saw this useful table that Lemon.io put together for their article on how to onboard software engineers. I thought you might like it as well.

Even though a mature engineering culture makes onboarding easier, it doesn’t automate it.

You still have to set up the whole process.

Starting with a question: how do you onboard full-time and contract hires?

Google is preparing to launch "Gemini Spark," an advanced AI agent capability within the Gemini app that can autonomously handle complex multi-step tasks across connected apps and services — though early testing reveals it may take actions like sharing sensitive info or making purchases without explicit permission each time.

Key Details:

• Gemini Spark is Google's branding for what was previously called "Gemini Agent." It appears in the redesigned Gemini app navigation drawer with a two-tab layout split between "Chat" and "Agent."
• The agent learns from ongoing use and can access "your info from sources like Connected Apps, skills, chats, tasks, websites you're logged into, Personal Intelligence, location, and more" to better understand user intent.
• Example capabilities include decluttering inboxes by summarizing or archiving newsletters, providing meeting briefs with relevant info before important meetings, and generating custom news digests that follow stories you care about.
• Users can create new tasks in Spark and schedule them to run at specified times, with a list showing both active and scheduled tasks.
• Google explicitly warns that Gemini Spark is "experimental" and may "share your info or make purchases without asking," despite being designed to request permission for sensitive actions. The company advises users to supervise it and not rely on it for medical, legal, or financial advice.
• Spark will have access to "your name, contact information, files, preferences, and info you might find sensitive" and can "share necessary info with third parties" as needed to complete tasks.

Why It Matters: Gemini Spark represents Google's push into autonomous agentic AI — systems that can orchestrate actions across multiple services to accomplish complex goals. The transparency about privacy risks and the experimental status suggest Google is moving cautiously, but the capability signals a major shift toward AI that doesn't just answer questions but actively manages tasks on your behalf.

This is pure gold. You would want to save this.

This is outrageous!

Anthropic is finalizing a major joint venture with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and other Wall Street firms to sell AI tools to private-equity-backed companies, with an announcement expected as soon as Monday.

Key Details:

• Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman are each investing roughly $300 million as anchor investors
• Goldman Sachs is contributing around $150 million, with General Atlantic and other firms also involved
• Total commitment is expected to reach approximately $1.5 billion
• The joint venture will act as a consulting arm to help businesses, particularly private-equity portfolio companies, integrate AI into their operations
• OpenAI is pursuing a similar rival joint venture with private-equity firms to promote adoption of its own AI tools
• Anthropic is positioned as the industry leader in the enterprise market and is eyeing a potential public listing as soon as this year

Why It Matters: Both AI leaders are targeting private-equity-backed companies as a prime market for AI adoption, recognizing their focus on efficiency and cost reduction as a strategic opportunity for growth.

Found this on X. These are fantastic free course for Claude. No more excuses.

Shut up and take my money....

GitHub is replacing its premium request pricing model with usage-based billing for all Copilot plans, charging users based on token consumption aligned with actual API rates.

Key Details:

• All Copilot plans (Individual, Business, and Enterprise) will transition to GitHub AI Credits on June 1, 2026, with usage calculated from input, output, and cached tokens
• Monthly Pro and Pro+ subscriptions will include AI Credits aligned to current subscription prices; annual plan holders keep existing pricing until renewal, then transition to Free or paid monthly plans
• Copilot Business and Enterprise seat pricing remains unchanged, with promotional included usage for June, July, and August
• New features include pooled credit usage across organizations and budget controls at enterprise, cost center, and user levels
• A preview bill experience launches in early May to show projected costs before the transition
• Temporary usage limits rolled out last week will be loosened once usage-based billing takes effect

Why It Matters:

Copilot has evolved into an agentic platform capable of multi-step coding sessions with significantly higher compute demands, making the current premium request model unsustainable; usage-based billing better aligns pricing with actual usage, improves service reliability, and gives users full control over spending.