tech

Claire Yubin Oh1/16/25

Google is upping the price of Workspace and giving users the AI tools that many didn’t want to buy

Google’s AI is now coming for your Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and more, with the tech giant integrating its AI assistant for its Business and Enterprise Workspace customers.

Instead of paying $20 per month for Gemini AI, Google is offering its wisdom for free — but with a catch: it’s also raising the price of its Standard Workspace plans by roughly $2 per user per month.

So what do you get? The AI services include things like quick email summaries, an automated notetaker for business meetings, and generated designs for presentations and videos. Of course, Google’s not the only company pushing its AI services in its subscriptions: Microsoft also began bundling its Copilot Pro AI features into its wider Microsoft 365 plans in November.

Many of the Workspace features go live on January 29.

Google raises the price of Workspace plans, includes its AI features for free | TechCrunch

Google raises the price of Workspace plans, includes its AI features for free | TechCrunch

So what do you get? The AI services include things like quick email summaries, an automated notetaker for business meetings, and generated designs for presentations and videos. Of course, Google’s not the only company pushing its AI services in its subscriptions: Microsoft also began bundling its Copilot Pro AI features into its wider Microsoft 365 plans in November.

Many of the Workspace features go live on January 29.

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Claire Yubin Oh2h

Ship-tracking app surges as Iran war continues

As Middle East peace talks stretch on, with Tehran reportedly offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade and the war ends, the owner of shipping intelligence platform MarineTraffic revealed that the app has gained millions of new users since the conflict began.

MarineTraffic’s user count jumped to 8.5 million this April, up from 3.5 million a year ago, the cofounder of its parent company, Kpler, said in an interview with the Financial Times. Paid subscribers, often workers within companies and governments looking for more data on supply chains and commodities trading, rose 11,000 in the same period.

Kpler, which also owns shipping intelligence platform FleetMon, draws its data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System, satellites, and more than 500 people on-site, like port terminal operators.

Per Appfigures data, MarineTraffic is estimated to have raked in almost $1 million across March and April in app revenue (through April 27), more than double the ~$346,500 from the same months last year. Across the full year, Kpler expects to earn between $300 million and $400 million in annual recurring revenues.

pedal to the meta

Meta could be getting ready to post its highest revenue growth since 2021

Meta’s outlook and analyst estimates suggest more than 30% revenue growth in Q1.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits U.S. Capitol for Senate meetings

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Google will supply AI models to Pentagon in classified deal, per The Information

Google has become the latest tech company to ink an agreement to supply the Department of Defense (War) with AI, having reportedly closed a classified deal that allows the Pentagon to use its AI for “any lawful government purpose,” according to The Information.

The Information initially reported talks between the Alphabet-owned company and the US government around two weeks ago, following the messy breakdown of the relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration — and the rushed OpenAI deal that took its place.

The move has reportedly sparked opposition among Google employees, with The Washington Post reporting that over 600 workers signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai to ask him to bar the Defense Department from using the company’s AI models for any classified work.

Google Signs Classified AI Deal With Pentagon Amid Employee Opposition

Google Signs Classified AI Deal With Pentagon Amid Employee Opposition

The Information initially reported talks between the Alphabet-owned company and the US government around two weeks ago, following the messy breakdown of the relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration — and the rushed OpenAI deal that took its place.

The move has reportedly sparked opposition among Google employees, with The Washington Post reporting that over 600 workers signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai to ask him to bar the Defense Department from using the company’s AI models for any classified work.

Altman: We do “weird” things like building massive data centers so there will be “universal prosperity”

OpenAI’s CEO spelled out the company’s principles for AGI in a blog post.

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Apple is on its way to becoming the biggest smartphone seller in China

The memory crunch has made iPhones a more popular alternative as competitors’ prices rise.

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