Google

Online giant Google is trying to help make things easier and safer for those traveling this holiday season.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- More than 1,600 Google workers signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai, in a bid to prevent the company from continuing to sell products to police departments, according to a report from TechCrunch on Monday.“We’re disappointed to know that Google is still selling to police forces, and advertises its connection with police forces as somehow progressive, and seeks more expansive sales rather than severing ties with police and joining the millions who want to defang and defund these institutions,” the letter, viewed by the publication, stated.Employees specifically pointed out Google's public recognition of a partnership with the Clarkstown, New York, Police Department, which has been sued over claims it engaged in illegal surveillance practices in 2015, pertaining to Black Lives Matters protestors.A spokesperson for Google said workers have made more than 500 product suggestions throughout recent weeks, which are being reviewed.

NEW YORK -- Apple and Google on Wednesday released long-awaited smartphone technology to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus.The companies said 22 countries and several U.S. states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google says it will no longer build custom artificial intelligence tools for speeding up oil and gas extraction, separating itself from cloud computing rivals Microsoft and Amazon.A statement from the company Tuesday followed a Greenpeace report that documents how the three tech giants are using AI and computing power to help oil companies find and access oil and gas deposits in the U.S. and around the world.The environmentalist group says Amazon, Microsoft and Google have been undermining their own climate change pledges by partnering with major oil companies including Shell, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil that have looked for new technology to get more oil and gas out of the ground.But the group applauded Google on Tuesday for taking a step away from those deals.“While Google still has a few legacy contracts with oil and gas firms, we welcome this indication from Google that it will no longer build custom solutions for upstream oil and gas extraction,” said Elizabeth Jardim, senior corporate campaigner for Greenpeace USA.Google said it will honor all existing contracts with its customers, but didn't specify what companies.

MILWAUKEE -- Grocery shopping is no simple task amid the coronavirus pandemic.

CANBERRA, Australia — Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government said Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would release in late July draft rules for the platforms to pay fair compensation for the journalistic content siphoned from news media.Frydenberg said he believed that Australia could succeed where other countries, including France and Spain, had failed in making Google and Facebook pay.“We won’t bow to their threats,” Frydenberg told reporters. “We understand the challenge that we face.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Apple and Google launched a major joint effort to leverage smartphone technology to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people for who may have been infected by coronavirus carriers.

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Google’s sister company Verily has launched a website for some people in the Bay Area to determine their eligibility for a coronavirus testing program.Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet and sister company to Google, said the screening is limited for now to residents in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County.The online tool allows people residing in the two counties to take online screener surveys to see if they should go to testing sites in either county for exams.Verily said it worked with the federal government to build the online tool to perform risk screening and testing of people at high risk of contracting the coronavirus.In a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Governor Gavin Newsom said the tool is meant for people with mild symptoms, as well as those at high risk, including seniors.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google's parent company, Alphabet, has spelled out a new message for its North American employees: "Work from home."The recommendation comes in the wake of growing coronavirus concerns.

DAVOS, Switzerland — France will delay its tax on the digital business of big tech firms like Google and Facebook in exchange for the United States' promise to hold off retaliatory sanctions - a deal that could avert a broader trade dispute.Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday he had agreed on the truce with U.S. Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin, at a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Le Maire said France would delay collection of the digital tax until December - through the next U.S. election cycle, potentially easing pressure for President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection.But the French minister said his country would never scrap it entirely until an international accord can be reached.“Digital companies will pay their fair tax in 2020,” Le Maire told reporters in Davos.The U.S., in turn, will hold off imposing retaliatory tariffs that it had threatened to slap tariffs on French wine, cheese and other products.The move appears to dial down the risk of a wider trade war between the United States and the European Union, of which France is part.