Google is redesigning Google Images into a Pinterest-style discovery platform, introducing a “For You” gallery and collections feature that lets users browse and save visual inspiration, while marking 25 years since the product’s debut. The company is also bringing AI image generation directly into Search’s AI Overviews using its Nano Banana model, allowing users to create custom visuals from text prompts. Both features begin rolling out over the coming weeks in the U.S. and English-language markets.
Separately, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis called for a new independent standards body to oversee frontier AI model releases, modeled on the financial industry’s FINRA. Hassabis proposed that AI labs voluntarily submit models for review before release, eventually formalizing the process as a requirement for U.S. deployment, with the body funded by industry but operated independently. The proposal follows criticism of prior government reviews of Anthropic and OpenAI models, though White House AI advisor Sriram Krishnan has downplayed the likelihood of a dedicated federal AI regulator.
Meanwhile, Google faces a new class action lawsuit from publishers and authors, including Hachette, Cengage, Elsevier, and author Scott Turow, who allege the company trained its Gemini models on copyrighted books without authorization, including materials from Google Books and Google Play, and altered copyright information to conceal the practice. The suit follows similar cases against Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic, with Anthropic previously paying a $1.5 billion settlement over similar claims. Google has not yet responded to the allegations.
