Less than a year after debuting Gemini 1.5, Google’s DeepMind division was back Wednesday to reveal the AI’s next-generation model, Gemini 2.0. The new model offers native image and audio output, and “will enable us to build new AI agents that bring us closer to our vision of a universal assistant,” the company wrote in its announcement blog post.
As of Wednesday, Gemini 2.0 is available at all subscription tiers, including free. As Google’s new flagship AI model, you can expect to see it begin powering AI features across the company’s ecosystem in the coming months. As with OpenAI’s o1 model, the initial release of Gemini 2.0 is not the company’s full-fledged version, but rather a smaller, less capable “experimental preview” iteration that will be upgraded in Google Gemini in the coming months.
“Effectively,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told The Verge, “it’s as good as the current Pro model is. So you can think of it as one whole tier better, for the same cost efficiency and performance efficiency and speed. We’re really happy with that.”
Google is also releasing a lightweight version of the model, dubbed Gemini 2.0 Flash, for developers.
With the release of a more capable Gemini model, Google advances its AI agent agenda, which would see smaller, purpose-built models taking autonomous action on the user’s behalf. Gemini 2.o is expected to significantly boost Google’s efforts to roll out its Project Astra, which combines Gemini Live’s conversational abilities with real-time video and image analysis to provide users information about their surrounding environment through a smart glasses interface.
Google also announced on Wednesday the release of Project Mariner, the company’s answer to Anthropic’s Computer Control feature. This Chrome extension is capable of commanding a desktop computer, including keystrokes and mouse clicks, in the same way human users do. The company is also rolling out an AI coding assistant called Jules that can help developers find and improve clunky code, as well as a “Deep Research” feature that can generate detailed reports on the subjects you have it search the internet for.
Deep Research, which seems to serve the same function as Perplextiy AI and ChatGPT Search, is currently available to English-language Gemini Advanced subscribers. The system works by first generating a “multi step research plan,” which it submits to the user for approval before implementing.
Once you sign off on the plan, the research agent will conduct a search on the given subject and then hop down any relevant rabbit holes it finds. Once it’s done searching, the AI will regurgitate a report on what its found, including key findings and citation links to where it found its information. You can select it from the chatbot’s drop-down model selection menu at the top of the Gemini home page.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.