Category: Google
Congress takes aim at online harms — and misses the center mass
On December 11, 18 child online safety bills took a significant step toward becoming law. The package — each bill addressing, in some way, the harms children face online — passed out of a House subcommittee on a mostly party-line vote. The legislative bundle is, overall, a somewhat milquetoast mix of meaningful wins and frustrating defeats for child safety advocates. Still, it represents real progress. For those who have long pushed for action, the ball has finally moved down the field.
The bills vary dramatically in scope. Some, like the Assessing Safety Tools for Parents and Minors Act, would simply mandate an analytical report on the efforts technology companies are making to protect children. Others, such as the App Store Accountability Act — which would require app stores to determine whether a user is a minor and, if so, prohibit downloads without parental consent — are far more consequential, fundamentally changing how app stores operate.
Advancing 18 bills signals that one of the longest-standing objections to action — whether social media actually harms children — has effectively collapsed.
There are also bittersweet elements. The most well-known and controversial bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, is included in the package — but in a significantly watered-down form. The original version, introduced by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), passed the Senate with more than 90 votes. But House GOP leadership raised constitutional concerns, arguing that the bill placed undue pressure on social media companies to regulate speech.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), one of the bill’s most prominent opponents, warned that it would “empower dangerous people.” Other critics likened KOSA to the British Online Safety Act — a far more draconian law than its American counterpart. (The most recent Senate version of KOSA focuses on disabling addictive features and restricting minors’ access to dangerous content.)
These concerns forced substantial revisions. Most notably, the bill now includes a sweeping pre-emption clause barring states from regulating anything that “relates” to KOSA — effectively nullifying existing and future state-level efforts to protect children online.
Equally disappointing is what failed to make the cut.
Some excluded proposals were undeniably radical, such as the RESET Act, which would have barred minors from creating or maintaining social media accounts altogether. But another bill left behind — the App Store Freedom Act — was critical to restoring competition and accountability in the app ecosystem.
That legislation would have challenged the Apple-Google duopoly, which controls more than 90% of app store purchases in the United States. As long as those two companies dominate the marketplace, meaningful reform will remain elusive. Unsurprisingly, both firms opposed the bill, arguing that it would “endanger” children by allowing downloads from unvetted third-party stores.
Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), the bill’s sponsor, blasted that claim, noting that Apple has long permitted minors to download TikTok — a platform run by a Chinese company with well-documented national security concerns.
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Image by Alexandr Muşuc via iStock / Getty Images
Despite its importance, the App Store Freedom Act was removed from the package. Even so, the remaining legislation still marks a major victory for those focused on protecting children online.
Here’s why.
First, advancing 18 bills signals that one of the longest-standing objections to action — whether social media actually harms children — has effectively collapsed.
For years, lawmakers debated whether digital platforms were the problem or whether other factors deserved the blame. A steady stream of studies, headlines, and internal leaks showing that social media companies knew their products damaged adolescent mental health helped put that question to rest.
Second, the breadth of the package ensures that something will happen. Even the weakest provisions — those requiring studies or reports — will energize advocates and help bring order to what remains a digital Wild West for children and families.
The legislative fight is far from over. The bills must still clear committee, pass the House, and survive the Senate. But momentum is clearly shifting toward reform.
It’s time to finish the fight.
This new malware wants to drain your bank account for the holidays. Here’s how to stay safe.
Android security has come a long way since the early days, thanks largely to Google’s broad suite of virus-busting tools, like Play Protect for apps, Safe Browsing for the web, and the Advanced Protection Program for Google accounts. However, malware can still infect devices from time to time, and the latest threat aims to infiltrate your bank account just before the holidays.
The threat
Dubbed Sturnus, this latest Android threat is a classic Trojan horse malware that bypasses Android’s security protections to gain access to a target device. Once inside, a hacker can spy on your conversations in popular chat apps — like Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp — and even mimic your bank’s login screen to trick you into handing over your bank login and password.
What makes this malware especially tricky lies in its sophistication. Sturnus doesn’t break the encryption found in the popular apps listed above. Instead it exploits Android’s native accessibility features to view, detect, and record data shown on your screen. The malware even comes with uninstall protection, making it harder to remove from a device once infected.
Here are some things you can do to make sure your Android phone is protected from Sturnus.
How to know if your phone is infected with Sturnus
Sturnus is especially dangerous because it runs completely undetected. There’s currently no way to know for sure that the malware is installed on your device. It could be lurking in your phone right now!
But don’t panic just yet. You’re less likely to be infected if either of these apply to you:
First, Sturnus is only transmitted through downloading and installing an Android app (an APK file, also known as an Android Application Package) directly to your phone. More than that, the infected APK file has to come from a third-party source outside of the Google Play Store — either in an attachment sent through a spam message or via a third-party app store. In a statement provided to Android Authority, Google confirmed that all Android users who strictly download apps from the Google Play Store are safe:
Based on our current detection, no apps containing this malware are found on Google Play. Android users are automatically protected against known versions of this malware by Google Play Protect, which is on by default on Android devices with Google Play Services. Google Play Protect can warn users or block apps known to exhibit malicious behavior, even when those apps come from sources outside of Play.
Second, Sturnus has only been detected in devices based in South and Central Europe so far. Users in the United States aren’t under any direct threat right now, but this could change as we get further into the holidays.
How to prevent Sturnus from infecting your phone
Just to be safe, there are some things you can do to make sure your Android phone is protected from Sturnus or any other downloadable security threat.
Google Play Protect
Make sure Google Play Protect is on. This feature regularly scans the apps downloaded to your phone and checks them for “harmful behavior,” including viruses and malware. To enable Play Protect, open the Google Play Store app on your phone, tap your profile picture in the top right corner, then Play Protect. Make sure it’s turned on.
Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw
Disable ‘Install unknown apps’
The Google Play Store is the default app store found on most Android devices sold in the U.S. Although Android phones can download apps from other sources, most of them ship with this feature turned off by default. Still with Sturnus going around, it’s a good idea to check to make sure your phone can’t accidentally sideload an app from a dubious corner of the internet.
If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, open the Settings app, tap on “Security and privacy,” then “More security settings,” and finally “Install unknown apps.” Make sure every app on this page is unchecked.
Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw
If you have a Google Pixel phone, open the Settings app, tap on “Apps,” then “Special app access,” and lastly “Install unknown apps.” As with Samsung, make sure every app on this page is disabled.
Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw
For those with other-branded Androids, you should be able to find this feature by opening your Settings app and typing “install unknown apps” into the search bar. As with the devices above, make sure this feature is disabled.
Extra features
Depending on your device, some Android phones come with additional security features that protect against malware, both on the software side and the hardware side. For instance, Samsung Knox protects data and defends from cybersecurity threats. As for Pixels 6 and up, they come with a Titan M2 chip that makes it harder for hackers to access your phone if it’s stolen, plus regular monthly security updates directly from Google ensure that their phones are always up to date.
The fix?
At this time, there is currently no fix for Sturnus, and there isn’t likely to be one anytime soon. Since the malware exploits several important features baked directly into the Android operating system, Google would have to disable these features entirely to get rid of the problem, something that simply can’t be done.
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Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
With Sturnus on the rise, it’s probably not a coincidence that Google recently announced that it is making it more difficult to distribute and sideload unverified apps from third-party sources. The move would prevent this exact kind of malware from infecting devices worldwide, though backlash from avid Android users has caused Google to loosen these restrictions just a bit. The final version of the sideloading changes are expected to roll out starting in late 2026.
As for now, your best bet to keep Sturnus out of your phone is to stay away from APKs that come from anywhere outside of the Google Play Store. Do that one simple thing, and you have nothing to worry about.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Flew Dem Senate Candidate Seth Moulton to Ritzy Montana Retreat As Congressman Oversaw Critical Business
Billionaire tech mogul and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt flew Massachusetts Senate hopeful Seth Moulton (D.) and his family to a ritzy Montana retreat to rub shoulders in a “strictly confidential” setting with other policymakers, celebrities, and foreign dignitaries. All the while, Moulton sat on a powerful House committee with oversight of many of Schmidt’s business interests.
The post Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Flew Dem Senate Candidate Seth Moulton to Ritzy Montana Retreat As Congressman Oversaw Critical Business appeared first on .
Maine’s Platner: ‘If I Had My Way’ Google and Palantir ‘Wouldn’t Exist’
WINDHAM, Maine—Senate candidate Graham Platner (D., Maine) said Google and Palantir “wouldn’t exist” if he had his way.
The post Maine’s Platner: ‘If I Had My Way’ Google and Palantir ‘Wouldn’t Exist’ appeared first on .
Google boss compares replacing humans with AI to getting a fridge for the first time
The head of Google’s parent company says welcoming artificial intelligence into daily life is akin to buying a refrigerator.
Alphabet’s chief executive, Indian-born Sundar Pichai, gave a revealing interview to the BBC this week in which he asked the general population to get on board with automation through AI.
‘Our first refrigerator …. radically changed my mom’s life.’
The BBC’s Faisal Islam, whose parents are from India, asked the Indian-American executive if the purpose of his AI products were to automate human tasks and essentially replace jobs with programming.
Pichai claimed that AI should be welcomed because humans are “overloaded” and “juggling many things.”
He then compared using AI to welcoming the technology that a dishwasher or fridge once brought to the average home.
“I remember growing up, you know, when we got our first refrigerator in the home — how much it radically changed my mom’s life, right? And so you can view this as automating some, but you know, freed her up to do other things, right?”
Islam fired back, citing the common complaints heard from the middle class who are concerned with job loss in fields like creative design, accounting, and even “journalism too.”
“Do you know which jobs are going to be safer?” he posited to Pichai.
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The Alphabet chief was steadfast in his touting of AI’s “extraordinary benefits” that will “create new opportunities.”
At the same time, he said the general population will “have to work through societal disruptions” as certain jobs “evolve” and transition.
“People need to adapt,” he continued. “Then there would be areas where it will impact some jobs, so society — I mean, we need to be having those conversations. And part of it is, how do you develop this technology responsibly and give society time to adapt as we absorb these technologies?”
Despite branding Google Gemini as a force for good that should be embraced, Pichai strangely admitted at the same time that chatbots are not foolproof by any means.
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– YouTube
“This is why people also use Google search,” Pichai said in regard to AI’s proclivity to present inaccurate information. “We have other products that are more grounded in providing accurate information.”
The 53-year-old told the BBC that it was up to the user to learn how to use AI tools for “what they’re good at” and not “blindly trust everything they say.”
The answer seems at odds with the wonder of AI he championed throughout the interview, especially when considering his additional commentary about the technology being prone to mistakes.
“We take pride in the amount of work we put in to give us as accurate information as possible, but the current state-of-the-art AI technology is prone to some errors.”
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GAMBLE: In huge new deals, ESPN and Google cave to the online betting economy
A simple Google search stopped being simple a long time ago. With sports scores, flight costs, and news articles being integrated into the engine over the years, it seemed the search giant could not pack any more ways to push its verticals into the engine.
But it’s still trying.
If 2024 was the year of the small modular nuclear reactor — which were approved en masse to power AI — 2025 may be the year of the gambling partnership.
‘Just ask something like “What will GDP growth be for 2025?”‘
Google and Disney’s ESPN have both inked new deals with gambling websites that will further increase the visibility of betting into everyday life.
Why not gamble?
Google announced in a blog post on Thursday it will integrate both Kalshi and Polymarket into its engine “so you can ask questions about future market events and harness the wisdom of the crowds.”
The pleasant descriptors for the American trading websites can be further summarized by noting they are simply platforms for gambling on nearly anything.
At the time of this writing, Kalshi’s feature bet is who will be nominated for Best New Artist at the 2026 Grammys. On Polymarket, users can bet on when the government shutdown will end, who will win the Super Bowl, or on the price of Bitcoin.
Google says, “Just ask something like ‘What will GDP growth be for 2025?’ directly from the search box to see current probabilities in the market and how they’ve changed over time.”
RELATED: Trump DOJ ends battle with Polymarket after Biden’s FBI raided CEO following 2024 election
Photo by Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Popular gaming (not for kids)
ESPN decided to end its partnership with Penn Entertainment early, just two years into a supposed 10-year deal. ESPN provided a $38.1 million buyout, according to Sportico, and then turned around and linked up with DraftKings immediately.
Where Penn operates casinos and slots in addition to its online sportsbook, DraftKings is not your father’s gambling dynasty. Instead, the brand is fully immersed in the culture, consistently appearing as a sponsor on popular YouTube channels that target a younger demographic.
What started as a company meant for fantasy drafts has evolved into a gambling empire that tends to skew younger and has a more lenient platform in terms of what types of sports bets are allowed.
Interestingly, Penn Entertainment previously owned Barstool Sports before selling it back to founder Dave Portnoy, who would also later partner with DraftKings.
Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
No Escape
DraftKings has previously partnered with professional sports teams and leagues in the past, including those in the NFL, MLB, and NBA. Now, after also announcing a deal with NBCUniversal in September, the company’s ads will appear across every major sports league’s broadcasts.
This includes NFL, PGA Tour, Ryder Cup, Premier League soccer, NCAA football, NBA, and the WNBA, as well as Super Bowl LX, NBA All-Star Weekend, and the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
On ESPN, the integration will be more betting-based, with the network saying it will roll out DraftKings in ESPN’s full “ecosystem” to offer at least three DraftKings products starting in December.
With search engines, networks, sports leagues, and YouTubers all jumping on board with the gambling revolution, it seems a betting culture is being fully immersed into all facets of the economy … and life itself.
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