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Google Hopes to Reach Gemini Deal with Apple this Year

FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
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Google Hopes to Reach Gemini Deal with Apple this Year

FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks to media following his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not pictured) at Google Campus in Warsaw, Poland, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo

Google hopes to enter an agreement with Apple by the middle of this year to include its Gemini AI technology on new phones, CEO Sundar Pichai said in testimony at an antitrust trial in Washington on Wednesday.
Pichai testified in the Alphabet unit's defense against proposals by the US Department of Justice which include ending lucrative deals with Apple, Samsung, AT&T and Verizon to be the default search engine on new mobile devices, Reuters reported.
During questioning by DOJ attorney Veronica Onyema, Pichai said that while Google does not yet have an agreement with Apple to include its Gemini AI on iPhones, Pichai spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook about the possibility last year.
A potential deal this year would see Google's Gemini AI included within Apple Intelligence, Apple's own set of AI features, Pichai said.
Google also plans to experiment with including ads in its Gemini app, Pichai said.
Prosecutors have sought to illustrate how Google could extend its dominance in online search to AI. Google maintained its monopoly in part by paying billions of dollars to wireless carriers and smartphone manufacturers, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled last year.
The judge is now weighing what actions Google should take to restore competition. The outcome of the case could fundamentally reshape the internet by potentially unseating Google as the go-to portal for information online.
The DOJ and a broad coalition of state attorneys general are pressing for remedies including requiring Google to sell off its Chrome web browser, banning it from paying to be the default search engine and requiring it to share search data with competitors.
The data-sharing provisions would discourage Google from investing in research and development, Pichai testified on Wednesday.
Provisions that would require the company to share its search index and search query data are "extraordinary," and amount to a "defacto divestiture of our IP related to search," Pichai said.
"It would be trivial to reverse engineer and effectively build Google search from the outside," he said.
That would make it "unviable to invest in R&D the way we have for the past two decades," Pichai added.
Google has said it plans to appeal once the judge makes a final ruling.

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Technology

Swiss Interior Minister Open to Social Media Ban for Children

A teenager poses holding a mobile phone displaying a message from TikTok as law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia takes effect, in Sydney, Australia, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A teenager poses holding a mobile phone displaying a message from TikTok as law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia takes effect, in Sydney, Australia, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Swiss Interior Minister Open to Social Media Ban for Children

A teenager poses holding a mobile phone displaying a message from TikTok as law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia takes effect, in Sydney, Australia, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A teenager poses holding a mobile phone displaying a message from TikTok as law banning social media for users under 16 in Australia takes effect, in Sydney, Australia, December 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Switzerland must do more to shield children from social media risks, Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider was quoted as saying on Sunday, signaling she was open to a potential ban on the platforms for youngsters.

Following Australia's recent ban on social media for under-16s, Baume-Schneider told SonntagsBlick newspaper that Switzerland should examine similar measures.

"The debate in Australia and the ‌EU is ‌important. It must also ‌be ⁠conducted in Switzerland. ‌I am open to a social media ban," said the minister, a member of the center-left Social Democrats. "We must better protect our children."

She said authorities needed to look at what should be restricted, listing options ⁠such as banning social media use by children, ‌curbing harmful content, and addressing ‍algorithms that prey on ‍young people's vulnerabilities.

Detailed discussions will begin ‍in the new year, supported by a report on the issue, Baume-Schneider said, adding: "We mustn't forget social media platforms themselves: they must take responsibility for what children and young people consume."

Australia's ban has won praise ⁠from many parents and groups advocating for the welfare of children, and drawn criticism from major technology companies and defenders of free speech.

Earlier this month, the parliament of the Swiss canton of Fribourg voted to prohibit children from using mobile phones at school until they are about 15, the latest step taken at ‌a local level in Switzerland to curb their use in schools.

Technology

Google Warns Staff with US Visas against International Travel

FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is displayed during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is displayed during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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Google Warns Staff with US Visas against International Travel

FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is displayed during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is displayed during a press conference in Berlin, Germany, November 11, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

Alphabet's Google has advised some employees on US visas to avoid international travel due to delays at embassies, Business Insider reported on Friday, citing an internal email.

The email, sent by the company's outside counsel BAL Immigration Law on Thursday, warned staff who need a visa ⁠stamp to re-enter the United States not to leave the country because visa processing times have lengthened, the report said.

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Some US embassies and consulates face visa ⁠appointment delays of up to 12 months, the memo said, warning that international travel will "risk an extended stay outside the US", according to the report.

The administration of President Donald Trump this month announced increased vetting of applicants for H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, including screening social media accounts.

The H-1B visa program, widely used by the US ⁠technology sector to hire skilled workers from India and China, has been under the spotlight after the Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee for new applications this year.

In September, Google's parent company Alphabet had strongly advised its employees to avoid international travel and urged H-1B visa holders to remain in the US, according to an email seen by Reuters.

Technology

AI Boom Drives Data-Center Dealmaking to Record High, Says Report

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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AI Boom Drives Data-Center Dealmaking to Record High, Says Report

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Global data-center dealmaking surged to a record high through November this year, driven by an insatiable demand for ​computing infrastructure to meet the boom in artificial intelligence usage.

Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed that there were more than 100 data center transactions during the period, with the total value sitting just under $61 billion.

WHY ‌IT'S IMPORTANT

Interest ‌in data centers ‌has ⁠swelled ​this ‌year as tech giants and AI hyperscalers have planned billions of dollars in spending to scale up infrastructure.

AI-related companies have powered much of the gains in US stocks this year, but concerns over lofty ⁠valuations and debt-fueled spending have also sparked worries ‌over how quickly corporates can ‍turn the investments ‍into profits.

BY THE NUMBERS

Including M&As, asset ‍sales and equity investments, data center investments hit nearly $61 billion through the end of November, already surpassing 2024's record high $60.81 billion.

Since ​2019, data center dealmaking in the US and Canada totaled about $160 billion, ⁠with Asia-Pacific reaching nearly $40 billion and Europe $24.2 billion.

GRAPHIC KEY QUOTE

"High interest comes from financial sponsors, which are attracted by the risk/reward profile of such assets. Private equity firms are eager buyers but are generally reluctant sellers, creating an environment where availability for sale of high-quality data center assets is scarce," said Iuri ‌Struta, TMT analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence.