26th June 2025: Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how content is ideated, created, and distributed. What began as a tool for automating basic tasks has now matured into a powerful partner for writers, marketers, and creative professionals. With the growing demand for high-quality, engaging content across platforms, the rise of AI in storytelling is both a timely development and a necessary evolution. However, the future of content does not rest in machines alone. It lies in the synergy between human creativity and machine efficiency.
Understanding the AI Content Boom
The recent surge in AI-generated content can be traced back to advances in natural language processing and machine learning. Tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, Claude, and other platforms are now capable of generating full-length articles, social media posts, product descriptions, and ad scripts. These tools can analyze massive data sets, identify trending topics, and produce content in seconds. The growth in AI-generated material has been driven by a need for speed and volume in digital marketing. Businesses are competing for attention across multiple platforms, and AI provides the ability to meet those demands. However, this increase in volume has sparked debates around quality, originality, and the authenticity of AI-produced content.
Why AI Alone Is Not Enough
AI tools are exceptional at analyzing data, spotting patterns, and generating grammatically correct content. But they often lack emotional intelligence and contextual awareness. These are essential elements in effective brand storytelling. Storytelling involves more than correct sentence structure or keyword usage. It requires a human understanding of tone, cultural relevance, and audience emotion. A machine can summarize facts or write a product description. But it cannot fully grasp the subtlety of humor, the depth of empathy, or the cultural nuance that makes a story stick. When stories are entirely AI-generated, they may feel generic, impersonal, or out of touch. These shortcomings highlight the need for human input to create content that truly connects with readers.
The Role of Humans in AI-Assisted Storytelling
Humans bring an irreplaceable layer of creativity, emotional depth, and ethical awareness to content creation. They understand narrative pacing, character development, and how to create suspense or evoke empathy. These are skills that AI lacks, even as it becomes more advanced.
In a collaborative content environment, humans act as strategists, editors, and quality controllers. They decide what story needs to be told, define the voice of the brand, and edit AI drafts for nuance and tone. This kind of partnership enables content teams to work more efficiently while still producing material that is emotionally engaging and strategically sound.
By guiding AI tools with strong prompts and refining outputs through editing, human creators maintain control over narrative direction and ensure alignment with brand values.
Personalization at Scale with a Human Touch
One of the most significant advantages of AI in content is its ability to personalize messaging at scale. AI can process user behavior, location data, browsing history, and more to generate targeted messages for specific segments. This allows brands to tailor content for different audiences with a level of efficiency that is impossible to achieve manually. Despite these strengths, AI alone cannot determine the emotional appropriateness of a message. It may deliver a perfectly timed product recommendation, but without sensitivity to the customer’s mindset, it risks coming across as cold or irrelevant. That is why human input is critical. Humans shape the tone, pace, and narrative so that messages feel warm, genuine, and respectful.
When human storytelling instincts are combined with AI’s ability to personalize, the result is content that resonates deeply while still being scalable.
Real-World Creative Models Evolving with AI
Across industries, content creation is shifting toward collaborative workflows that blend AI tools with experienced professionals. Editorial agencies and independent writing firms are adapting to this change by embedding AI into their internal processes while preserving human-led storytelling as the foundation.
One example of this evolving approach is seen at Beyond Words Writing, a professional writing service that has embraced AI as a support tool while continuing to prioritize human intuition and creativity. Rather than fully automating content, they use AI to accelerate research, outline generation, and consistency checks. However, every final piece of content is shaped by writers and editors who understand the client’s voice and audience.
This model reflects the broader industry shift. The future of storytelling lies not in replacing human writers, but in empowering them with tools that expand what is possible.
Creative Efficiency Without Losing the Soul
AI allows teams to move faster. It can help brainstorm topic ideas, draft content outlines, optimize SEO keywords, and even write initial drafts. This frees up creative professionals to focus on storytelling, design, and strategic thinking. The result is more content produced in less time, without necessarily increasing workload. However, faster production should not mean lower quality. AI-generated content still requires human review to ensure it is engaging, factually accurate, and consistent with brand messaging. Writers and editors remain essential in evaluating whether the content reflects the values and goals of the organization.
With human-AI collaboration, brands can avoid burnout while still maintaining creative integrity. This is especially important as content demands continue to grow across video, blogs, social media, and emerging platforms.
Ethical Storytelling and Brand Responsibility
As AI becomes more embedded in content strategies, ethical concerns have come to the surface. Questions around plagiarism, misinformation, and data privacy are growing. If left unchecked, AI could unintentionally produce biased, inaccurate, or insensitive content. This puts a brand’s reputation at risk. Human intervention helps ensure that ethical standards are upheld. Editors can verify facts, apply cultural sensitivity, and assess whether the AI-generated material meets legal and industry guidelines. Furthermore, businesses need to be transparent about how content is created. If AI tools are involved in the process, this should be clearly disclosed to maintain customer trust.
Ethical storytelling is not only about avoiding mistakes. It is about building a brand that values honesty, inclusivity, and responsibility. These values cannot be automated. They must be upheld by the people behind the stories.
Emotional Connection as a Competitive Advantage
In a world flooded with content, emotional resonance is what sets great storytelling apart. People remember stories that made them feel something. Whether it is humor, inspiration, empathy, or excitement, emotional response drives engagement and loyalty. AI can mimic tone but it cannot feel emotion. It does not understand irony, personal history, or social context in the way humans do. Emotional intelligence is what allows human writers to understand what their audience is going through, what matters to them, and how best to speak to those experiences.
By collaborating with AI, writers can use data to guide their narratives but still rely on human intuition to inject meaning and warmth. This emotional layer is what transforms functional content into memorable storytelling.
Teaching AI the Brand Voice
AI tools work best when they are trained on a specific dataset. This includes past blogs, social media posts, and internal communications. By feeding these materials into the system, brands can teach AI to replicate their tone and vocabulary. However, even a well-trained model needs ongoing human direction. Writers and content strategists must continually fine-tune AI-generated outputs to maintain voice consistency. They ensure that the tone remains appropriate for different formats and audiences. They also watch for subtle shifts in brand identity that require updating the training data.
Maintaining brand voice is not a one-time task. It is an ongoing process that requires active human participation. AI can help reinforce that voice, but it cannot define it on its own.
Scaling Content for Multichannel Ecosystems
Modern marketing is omnichannel. Content must be adapted for websites, social media, email newsletters, podcasts, and more. Each platform has its own format, audience expectation, and algorithmic preference. Meeting these demands requires agility. AI helps streamline the repurposing process. A single blog can be transformed into social media captions, email intros, or video scripts with the help of generative tools. This allows brands to maintain a consistent message across platforms without duplicating effort.
However, not every channel is the same. What works on Instagram may not work on LinkedIn. Human editors adapt AI-generated content to fit platform-specific norms while ensuring that it still resonates with the target audience. This collaborative process is what makes multichannel marketing effective, efficient, and emotionally engaging.
Preparing for the Future of Storytelling
Looking ahead, the content industry will continue to evolve. AI will become more advanced, voice assistants more prevalent, and interactive content more immersive. Brands that want to stay ahead must invest in both technology and human talent. Creative teams will include writers, designers, data analysts, and AI prompt specialists. They will work together to produce content that is both data-driven and emotionally powerful. This is not about replacing humans with machines. It is about enhancing human potential through collaboration.
The brands that thrive will be those that treat AI as a creative partner rather than a shortcut. They will use it to improve workflow, increase personalization, and expand storytelling possibilities, without sacrificing authenticity or ethical standards.
Conclusion
The AI content boom is not the end of human creativity. It is a new beginning. It invites marketers, writers, and brands to reimagine the way stories are created, shared, and remembered. When used wisely, AI becomes more than a tool. It becomes a co-author. The future of brand storytelling is not artificial. It is collaborative. It is powered by both data and emotion, technology and imagination. Human-AI collaboration will not just be a useful option. It will become the new standard in content creation.
By embracing this partnership, brands can scale smarter, connect deeper, and tell better stories than ever before.
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Mostly sunny early then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High near 85F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..
Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to considerable cloudiness and fog after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: June 26, 2025 @ 8:12 am

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jun 26, 2025–
(NYSE: ONTF) As B2B organizations turn to content-rich experiences to drive both customer engagement and revenue, Envista Forensics, a global leader in forensic consulting and engineering services, is building a scalable, certification-driven marketing engine with ON24, a leading first-party customer engagement platform for B2B sales and marketing. With the ON24 AI-powered Analytics and Content Engine (ACE) and engagement capabilities, Envista has propelled webinars into a top revenue-generating channel, reducing content creation time by 50% and increasing output by 40%.
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81, of Mandeville, LA, native of Princeton, passed June 17. Service to celebrate the life, 11 a.m. Friday, June 27, Chapel of Memorial Funeral Directory, Athens Rd., Princeton. Visitation one-hour prior. Entombment, Resthaven Memorial Park Mausoleum, Princeton.
57, of Princeton, passed June 21. Service will be 2 p.m. Thursday, June 26, in the Chapel of the Memorial Funeral Directory, Athens Rd., Princeton. Burial in Oakwood Cemetery, Princeton.
44, of Princeton, passed June 16. Service to celebrate the life will be 11 a.m. Thursday, June 26, at Johnston Chapel Baptist Church, Halls Ridge Rd., Princeton. Friends may visit 10 a.m. Thursday until service time.
91, of Princeton, passed June 16. Service 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, the the Chapel of Memorial Funeral Directory, Athens Rd., Princeton. Friends from noon until service hour. Burial in Roselawn Memorial Gardens, Princeton.

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December 23, 2024
by Lauren Pope  /  December 23, 2024
In a world where new businesses are popping up every day, brand visibility is everything.
Digital marketing is the answer to getting your brand in front of thousands of new potential customers using social media, mobile marketing, and all that good stuff.
But where do you start? Which platform should you focus on? Do you engage digital marketing services, and which strategies are worth your time? There are plenty of questions to answer.
That’s why we’ve put together the top digital marketing statistics for 2025. These insights into content and email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), video marketing, and artificial intelligence (AI) will help refine your strategies and keep you ahead of the curve.
Whether your company is business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C), digital marketing is the most effective tactic to gain more visibility, customers, and revenue for your company. Here are some general statistics to give you an idea of the digital marketing landscape.
the number of ads the average person sees per day.
Source: Siteefy
Content marketing is a strategy in which marketing teams post relevant and engaging content to boost the value and visibility of their products or services. A great example of this is when marketing teams create informative blogs that establish their brand as a thought leader in their respective field. Here are some statistics about how real marketers are using content marketing in their larger digital marketing strategy. 
of B2B marketers experienced growth in sales and revenue in 2023 due to content marketing.
Source: Content Marketing Institute
Websites are an excellent approach to increasing your digital market authority. We’ve reviewed some intriguing website-building statistics and how they influence online user experiences.
of U.S. websites received between 1,001 and 15,000 monthly visitors in 2023.
Source: HubSpot
Email marketing remains the best digital marketing channel for ROI. Although it can be expensive and a bit tedious at times, time and time again, email marketing works. But what are the best ways to ensure your message stands out in a crowded inbox? These email marketing statistics can give you a good idea of where to get started.
of brands consider email marketing crucial to their business success.
Source: Litmus
Lead generation is one of the most essential metrics marketers are judged against. However, getting people to fill out lead forms and sign up for email newsletters is hard. These statistics outline which lead generation strategies will give you the best results and how you can optimize your lead funnel to generate higher quality leads faster than ever. 
of marketers spend at least half of their budget on lead generation.
Source: WebFX
PPC is a digital advertising approach in which the advertiser pays a charge each time one of their advertisements is clicked on. PPC advertisements come in various kinds and sizes (literally) and can contain text, graphics, videos, or a combination of the three. They may be found on search engines, web pages, social networking platforms, and other sources. Let us take a look at some interesting figures associated with PPC advertising.
is the projected spend on search advertising globally in 2024.
Source: Statista
Mobile marketing is a digital marketing strategy in which marketing teams attempt to reach their audience on their phones through channels such as text messaging and email. A business with an effective mobile marketing strategy will optimize its web pages for mobile viewing as well as all of its email marketing. Here’s a look at how marketers can make mobile marketing work for them.
is the forecasted value of mobile e-commerce sales by 2027.
Source: Statista
SEO is a popular method for generating traffic to a brand website by ranking for popular search queries. Companies that want to drive traffic through SEO often conduct research on significant keywords that internet users are commonly searching for. They then focus on content optimization by creating targeted pieces around these keywords to drive more traffic to their site.
These statistics show the best SEO strategies in your digital marketing efforts. 
is the most searched keyword both in the U.S. and globally.
Source: Ahrefs
Social media is one of the most popular digital marketing channels, and it’s only expected to grow. Marketers have trusted platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for a long, long time. But what about new opportunities like TikTok and Snapchat? Are they worth your time and marketing budget? Have a look below.
people interact with Instagram’s story feature every month.
Source: SourcePilot
Video marketing has seen a massive boom in popularity in the last few years. Because videos are often expensive and time-consuming to produce, most marketers are still unaware of the benefits these resources can bring their brand. Here are some of the best video marketing statistics for marketers to keep in mind.
of marketers plan to focus on creating AI-assisted explainer or brand videos this year.
Source: Lemonlight 
AI has been around for a long time, but adoption rates skyrocketed with the advent of ChatGPT. Marketers employ AI for various functions, including image production, podcast script authoring, and even video editing. Marketers are also adjusting to this transition by investing in AI marketing solutions. Take a look at these fascinating statistics regarding the use of AI in marketing.
marketers turn to generative AI tools for creating content.
Source: G2
Sources: 
With all of the different ways that businesses can market their product, it is clear that we are living in the golden age of digital marketing.  By leveraging the power of data-driven insights, creative content, and strategic online platforms, businesses can unlock the full potential of digital marketing to drive growth, build brand recognition, and connect with customers in previously unimaginable ways.
Whether you’re an SMB looking to get your brand off the ground or an enterprise brand hoping to reach even more customers, digital marketing can provide a wealth of information and tools to choose from.
Troubled by SEO? Check out how to do an SEO Audit with a free checklist.
Lauren Pope is a former content marketer at G2. You can find her work featured on CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, the G2 Learning Hub, and other sites. In her free time, Lauren enjoys watching true crime shows and singing karaoke. (she/her/hers)
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Updated 26 June 2025 at 18:49 IST
The landscape of digital marketing is undergoing a seismic shift as artificial intelligence takes centre stage. From campaign planning to real-time optimisation, AI is empowering marketers to understand audiences like never before, automate complex processes, and deliver personalised experiences at scale. 
Artificial Intelligence has rapidly become the defining force behind the transformation of digital marketing. As brands and agencies adapt to a landscape shaped by ever-increasing data and shifting consumer behaviors, AI stands out as the catalyst for innovation, efficiency, and measurable results. In India, the evolution is particularly pronounced, with Digital Marketing Companies in India leveraging AI to deliver campaigns that are not only more targeted but also more responsive to real-time consumer needs.
The traditional approach to digital marketing relied heavily on broad segmentation and generalized messaging. AI has shattered these limitations by enabling true personalization at scale. Modern algorithms analyze vast streams of customer data—ranging from browsing history to purchase patterns and social media activity—to identify individual preferences and predict future actions. This allows marketers to craft messages, offers, and experiences that resonate on a personal level, fostering deeper connections and higher conversion rates.
Personalization is no longer about addressing customers by their first name in an email. AI enables dynamic content creation, where every touchpoint—be it an ad, a landing page, or a chatbot interaction—is tailored to the user’s unique journey. The result is a seamless, relevant experience that feels intuitive and engaging, setting new standards for customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
One of the most significant advancements brought by AI is the ability to anticipate customer behavior through predictive analytics. By processing historical data and identifying patterns, AI-powered tools can forecast which users are most likely to engage, convert, or churn. This foresight empowers marketers to allocate resources more effectively, optimize campaign timing, and design proactive retention strategies.
Predictive analytics also supports smarter budget allocation. Marketers can now identify high-value prospects and prioritize them with tailored offers, maximizing the return on every marketing dollar spent. This shift from reactive to proactive marketing is redefining how brands approach customer acquisition and retention in the digital age.
AI’s impact goes beyond strategy and analytics—it is fundamentally changing the way campaigns are managed. Automation tools powered by AI take over repetitive tasks such as bid adjustments, audience segmentation, and performance monitoring. This not only reduces the manual workload for marketing teams but also ensures that campaigns are constantly optimized for the best possible results.
Real-time data analysis allows AI systems to make instantaneous adjustments to ad placements, messaging, and targeting. This agility is crucial in today’s fast-paced digital environment, where consumer preferences and market dynamics can shift overnight. By automating these processes, brands can maintain a competitive edge and respond to opportunities or challenges as they arise.
The era of mass marketing is giving way to hyper-targeted campaigns, thanks to AI’s advanced audience segmentation capabilities. Machine learning models analyze diverse data points to identify micro-segments within larger audiences. Marketers can then deliver highly relevant content to each segment, increasing engagement rates and reducing wasted ad spend.
This precision targeting extends across channels, from search and social media to programmatic advertising and email. AI ensures that the right message reaches the right person at the right time, driving higher click-through rates and conversions. As consumers become more discerning, this level of relevance is essential for capturing attention and building trust.
AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants have become integral to digital marketing campaigns. These tools provide instant, round-the-clock support, guiding customers through their purchase journey and answering queries in real time. Unlike traditional customer service channels, AI chatbots learn from each interaction, continuously improving their responses and recommendations.
Conversational AI goes beyond simple Q&A. It can upsell, cross-sell, and even personalize product suggestions based on user behavior. This not only enhances the customer experience but also drives additional revenue opportunities for brands. With AI handling routine interactions, human agents are free to focus on more complex and value-added tasks.
Content remains at the heart of digital marketing, and AI is playing an increasingly important role in both creation and optimization. Natural language processing algorithms can generate basic content for ads, emails, and social media posts, freeing up human creatives to focus on strategy and storytelling. AI also analyzes engagement metrics to determine which content resonates most with different audience segments, informing future content strategies.
Visual content is not left behind. AI tools optimize images and videos for different platforms and audiences, ensuring that every asset is both appealing and relevant. This data-driven approach to content creation leads to higher engagement and more effective campaigns.
AI’s ability to process and analyze massive datasets in real time is transforming how decisions are made in digital marketing. Marketers now have access to actionable insights that were previously unattainable, from granular audience behaviors to macro-level market trends. This data-driven approach supports smarter strategy development, campaign optimization, and performance measurement.
With AI, marketing is no longer a guessing game. Every decision is backed by evidence, reducing risk and increasing the likelihood of success. As the volume and complexity of data continue to grow, AI’s role as a strategic advisor will only become more critical.
While AI offers tremendous benefits, it also raises important ethical questions around data privacy, transparency, and bias. Marketers must ensure that AI-driven campaigns respect user consent and adhere to regulatory standards. At the same time, the human touch remains essential—AI should augment, not replace, human creativity and empathy.
Striking the right balance between automation and authenticity is key to building lasting customer relationships. Brands that use AI responsibly and transparently will earn greater trust and loyalty from their audiences.
India’s digital marketing landscape is uniquely positioned to benefit from AI adoption. With a rapidly growing internet user base and increasing digital literacy, Indian marketers are leveraging AI to overcome challenges such as language diversity, regional preferences, and complex consumer journeys. The integration of AI is helping brands reach new markets, engage diverse audiences, and drive business growth in ways that were previously unimaginable.
As the founder of a digital marketing consultancy, Vijay Sood observes that the shift towards AI-powered marketing is not just a trend but a necessary evolution. The ability to harness data, automate processes, and deliver personalized experiences is setting new benchmarks for success in the industry. Marketers who embrace AI are better equipped to navigate the complexities of the digital ecosystem and deliver results that matter.
The revolution sparked by artificial intelligence is still in its early stages. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even greater integration of AI into every facet of digital marketing—from creative development to customer engagement and beyond. The focus will increasingly shift towards delivering value at every touchpoint, using AI to anticipate needs, solve problems, and create memorable experiences.
In conclusion, the rise of AI is redefining what is possible in digital marketing. Brands that adapt quickly and thoughtfully will not only stay ahead of the curve but also shape the future of the industry. As this transformation unfolds, organizations like SwiftPropel are at the forefront, helping clients navigate the opportunities and challenges of this new era with insight, integrity, and innovation.
Published 26 June 2025 at 18:49 IST
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Today is one of the most important days on the tech calendar as Google kicked off its I/O developer event with its annual keynote. As ever, the company had many updates for a wide range of products to talk about.
The bulk of the Android news was revealed last week, during a special edition of The Android Show. However, Tuesday's keynote still included a ton of stuff including, of course, a pile of AI-related news. We covered the event in real-time in our live blog, which includes expert commentary (and even some jokes!) from our team.
If you're on the hunt for a breakdown of everything Google announced at the I/O keynote, though, look no further. Here are all the juicy details worth knowing about:
Quelle surprise, Google is continuing to shove more generative AI features into its core products. AI Mode, which is what the company is calling a new chatbot, will soon be live in Search for all US users.
AI Mode is in a separate tab and it's designed to handle more complex queries than people have historically used Search for. You might use it to compare different fitness trackers or find the most affordable tickets for an upcoming event. AI Mode will soon be able to whip up custom charts and graphics related to your specific queries too. It can also handle follow-up questions.
The chatbot now runs on Gemini 2.5. Google plans to bring some of its features into the core Search experience by injecting them into AI Overviews. Labs users will be the first to get access to the new features before Google rolls them out more broadly.
Meanwhile, AI Mode is powering some new shopping features. You'll soon be able to upload a single picture of yourself to see what a piece of clothing might look like on a virtual version of you.
Also, similar to the way in which Google Flights keeps an eye out for price drops, Google will be able to let you know when an item you want (in its specific size and color) is on sale for a price you're willing to pay. It can even complete the purchase on your behalf if you want.
AI Overviews, the Gemini-powered summaries that appear at the top of search results and have been buggy to say the least, are seen by more than 1.5 billion folks every month, according to Google. The "overwhelming majority" of people interact with these in a meaningful way, the company said — this could mean clicking on something in an overview or keeping it on their screen for a while (presumably to read through it).
Still, not everyone likes the AI Overviews and would rather just have a list of links to the information they're looking for. You know, like Search used to be. As it happens, there are some easy ways to declutter the results.
We got our first peek at Project Astra, Google's vision for a universal AI assistant, at I/O last year and the company provided more details this time around. A demo showed Astra carrying out a number of actions to help fix a mountain bike, including diving into your emails to find out the bike's specs, researching information on the web and calling a local shop to ask about a replacement part.
It already feels like a culmination of Google's work in the AI assistant and agent space, though elements of Astra (such as granting it access to Gmail) might feel too intrusive for some. In any case, Google aims to transform Gemini into a universal AI assistant that can handle everyday tasks. The Astra demo is our clearest look yet at what that might look like in action.
On the NotebookLM front, Google has released an iOS and Android app for the tool. The company also took the opportunity at I/O to show off what NotebookLM can do.
Google put together a notebook featuring the I/O keynote video from YouTube as well as associated blog posts, press releases and product demos. You can drill down into all of this information or just ask the AI questions about I/O. Of course, you'll be able to generate audio summaries as well as a mind map to structure all the info that's in the notebook.
Gemini 2.5 is here with (according to Google) improved functionality, upgraded security and transparency, extra control and better cost efficiency. Gemini 2.5 Pro is bolstered by a new enhanced reasoning mode called Deep Think. The model can do things like turn a grid of photos into a 3D sphere of pictures, then add narration for each image. Gemini 2.5's text-to-speech feature can also change up languages on the fly. There's much more to it than that, of course, and we've got more details in our Gemini 2.5 story.
You know those smart replies in Gmail that let you quickly respond to an email with an acknowledgement? Google is now going to offer personalized versions of those so that they better match your writing style. For this to work, Gemini looks at your emails and Drive documents. Gemini will need your permission before it plunders your personal information. Subscribers will be able to use this feature in Gmail starting this summer.
Google Meet is getting a real-time translation option, which should come in very useful for some folks. A demo showed Meet being able to match the speaker's tone and cadence while translating from Spanish to English.
Subscribers on the Google AI Pro and Ultra (more on that momentarily) plans will be able to try out real-time translations between Spanish and English in beta starting this week. This feature will soon be available for other languages.
Gemini Live, a tool Google brought to Pixel phones last month, is coming to all compatible Android and iOS devices in the Gemini app (which already has more than 400 million monthly active users). This allows you to ask Gemini questions about screenshots, as well as live video that your phone's camera is capturing. Google is rolling out Gemini Live to the Gemini iOS and Android app starting today.
Google Search Live is a similar-sounding feature. You'll be able to have a "conversation" with Search about what your phone's camera can see. This will be accessible through Google Lens and AI Mode.
A new filmmaking app called Flow, which builds on VideoFX, includes features such as camera movement and perspective controls; options to edit and extend existing shots; and a way to fold AI video content generated with Google's Veo model into projects. Flow is available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US starting today. Google will expand availability to other markets soon.
Speaking of Veo, that's getting an update. The latest version, Veo 3, is the first iteration that can generate videos with sound (it probably can't add any soul or actual meaning to the footage, though). The company also suggests that its Imagen 4 model is better at generating photorealistic images and handling fine details like fabrics and fur than earlier versions.
Handily, Google has a tool it designed to help you determine if a piece of content was generated using its AI tools. It's called SynthID Detector — naturally, it's named after the tool that applies digital watermarks to AI-generated material.
According to Google, SynthID Detector can scan an image, piece of audio, video or text for the SynthID watermark and let you know which parts are likely to have a watermark. Early testers will be able to to try this out starting today. Google has opened up a waitlist for researchers and media professionals. (Gen AI companies should offer educators a version of this tech ASAP.)
To get access to all of its AI features, Google wants you to pay 250 American dollars every month for its new AI Ultra plan. There's really no other way to react to this other than "LOL. LMAO." I rarely use either of those acronyms, which highlights just how absurd this is. What are we even doing here? That's obscenely expensive.
Anyway, this plan includes early access to the company's latest tools and unlimited use of features that are costly for Google to run, such as Deep Research. It comes with 30TB of storage across Google Photos, Drive and Gmail. You'll get YouTube Premium as well — arguably the Google product that's most worth paying for.
Google is offering new subscribers 50 percent off an AI Ultra subscription for the first three months. Woohoo. In addition, the AI Premium plan is now known as Google AI Pro.
As promised during last week's edition of The Android Show, Google offered another look at Android XR. This is the platform that the company is working on in the hope of doing for augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality what Android did for smartphones. After the company's previous efforts in those spaces, it's now playing catchup to the likes of Meta and Apple.
The initial Android XR demo at I/O didn't offer much to get too excited about for now. It showed off features like a mini Google Map that you can access on a built-in display and a way to view 360-degree immersive videos. We're still waiting for actual hardware that can run this stuff.
As it happens, Google revealed the second Android XR device. Xreal is working on Project Aura, a pair of tethered smart glasses. We'll have to wait a bit longer for more details on Google's own Android XR headset, which it's collaborating with Samsung on. That's slated to arrive later this year.
A second demo of Android XR was much more interesting. Google showed off a live translation feature for Android XR with a smart glasses prototype that the company built with Samsung. That seems genuinely useful, as do many of the accessibility-minded applications of AI. Gentle Monster and Warby Parker are making smart glasses with Android XR too. Just don't call it Google Glass (or do, I'm not your dad).
Google is giving the Chrome password manager a very useful weapon against hackers. It will be able to automatically change passwords on accounts that have been compromised in data breaches. So if a website, app or company is infiltrated, user data is leaked and Google detects the breach, the password manager will let you generate a new password and update a compatible account with a single click.
The main sticking point here is that it only works with websites that are participating in the program. Google's working with developers to add support for this feature. Still, making it easier for people to lock down their accounts is a definite plus. (And you should absolutely be using a password manager if you aren't already.)
On the subject of Chrome, Google is stuffing Gemini into the browser as well. The AI assistant will be able to answer questions about the tabs you have open. You'll be able to access it from the taskbar and a new menu at the top of the browser window.
It's been a few years since we first heard about Project Starline, a 3D video conferencing project. We tried this tech out at I/O 2023 and found it to be an enjoyable experience.
Now, Google is starting to sell this tech, but only to enterprise customers (i.e. big companies) for now. It's got a new name for all of this too: Google Beam. And it's probably not going to be cheap. HP will reveal more details in a few weeks.
Google's annual I/O developer conference kicked off on Tuesday, May 20. See everything Google has announced at I/O 2025 so far, including an AI-powered movie creation tool called Flow, real-time translation in Google Meet, virtual clothing try-ons based on uploaded photos, AI enhancements to Project Astra computer vision and more. Follow Engadget's Google I/O liveblog for recap of the event as it unfolded in real-time. Google previewed some key pre-I/O Android 16 news during its Android Show video stream last week.
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