Last week, a bunch of Android users received an email from Google saying that starting July 7, it is changing how Gemini interacts with some of the apps on their phone. In a vaguely worded email, the tech giant said that “Gemini will soon be able to help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp and Utilities on your phone”, even if you have turned off Gemini Apps activity on the device.
On its website, Google says that “Gemini apps give you direct access to Google AI” and that “your chats are saved in your account for up to 72 hours, whether Gemini Apps activity is on or off.” This means that, irrespective of your preference, Google will be storing some of your personal data, which might include the contents of your WhatsApp chats.
While the update does make Gemini more useful, since the AI chatbot can now read your WhatsApp messages and send replies on your behalf, some users who don’t want it to get access to their personal chats might find it intrusive.
How to turn off Gemini app activity?
If you are looking to disable Gemini Apps Activity for all connected apps, simply open Gemini on your Android phone, tap on the profile picture icon from the top right, and click on the option named “Gemini Apps Activity.” This will open a new page, where you will see a toggle that lets you quickly turn off the feature. One thing to note here is that even after you turn off the feature, Google will store your data for up to 72 hours “to maintain safety and security of Gemini apps”. In case you want to prevent Gemini from accessing a certain app’s data, tap on your profile picture in the Gemini app and click on “Apps”. Here, you will be able to choose which apps you want Gemini to be connected to. Alternatively, you can disable the Gemini app on your phone to stop the AI chatbot from tracking anything you do on your device.
IBM rolls out new chips and servers, aims for simplified AI
American technology company International Business Machines (IBM) on Tuesday announced their next generation servers. These will consist of a new system called Power11 and a server line. According to IBM, these are set to have a higher power efficiency compared to rivals, and will simplify AI operations for businesses.
The Power11 is set to be IBM’s first major update to the power chip line since 2020, where the company rolled out the Power10 manufactured by Samsung. It will comprise IBM’s updated power system, which is an integrated package of chips and software. Tom McPherson, general manager of power systems at IBM, said that this integrated package would lead to an improved performance in terms of reliability and security.
The latest offering from IBM closely resembles NVIDIA’s system structure. However, IBM does not view itself as a competitor to NVIDIA, but is instead focusing on the simplification of productive AI for businesses.
The company claims the system will not need any planned down-time for software updates, and will have a total unplanned down-time of below 30 seconds per annum. This translates to an up-time of 99.9999 percent. To achieve this, IBM will use autonomous patching and automated workload movement to carry out maintenance without taking the system offline. The system is also made to detect a ransomware attack and respond, all within a one-minute time frame. This will be achieved using a feature called IBM Power Cyber Vault, which is said to follow the NIST cybersecurity framework.