The question of how Google will monetize its new AI products just got clearer. Robbie Stein, Google’s VP of Product, recently confirmed the company is moving forward with ads in its Search features, specifically AI Mode and “other AI experiences.” Crucially, however, the executive did not explicitly mention the standalone Gemini chatbot service.

Some recent reports have mentioned that Gemini could receive ads soon. They cite Stein’s appearance on the “Silicon Valley Girl” podcast as the primary source. However, there have been some misinterpretations of his actual words.

Google VP confirms ads are under testing in Search’s AI Mode

In the podcast, Stein confirmed the ad integration is already underway, stating, “We’ve started some experiments on ads within AI Mode and within Google AI experiences” (via Live Mint) This confirms that the generative features integrated directly into the Search experience will become the next frontier for advertising revenue. However, Gemini was never mentioned as a product that will get ads.

Robbie Stein emphasized that the company’s primary focus has been on building great consumer products first. But he added that “users are starting to see some ad experiments there too.”

As mentioned before, the standalone Gemini chatbot service remains officially outside of this specific announcement. But the term “Google AI experiences” is purposefully broad. It suggests that any AI product connected to the main Google stream could eventually be included.

Exploring ad formats

Stein hinted that the ads we see may not look like the traditional sponsored links we know from decades of web searching. Google is exploring “new and novel ad formats” that could integrate more naturally into conversational interfaces. He sees this as an opportunity, suggesting that advertising in this new context could be “even more helpful for you, particularly in an advertising context.”

This confirms the direction of Google’s monetization strategy. The company will follow an AI-enhanced future that will still be driven by advertising revenue. While the exact format and location of these new AI ads are still taking shape, the experiments are in progress. This signals the next great evolution of search monetization for the company.

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Google’s latest attempt to integrate generative AI into our living spaces, Gemini for Home, is generating headlines—but perhaps not the kind Google intended. Rolling out as part of Google’s paid Home subscription, the feature promises smart daily summaries and conversational insights from your Nest camera footage. However, early reports from users suggest that Gemini for Google Home system frequently misidentifies common household events, even erroneously detecting the presence of deer or fake people, generating accuracy doubts.

The new feature utilizes the Gemini AI model to process video clips, generating summaries and answering questions via an “Ask Home” chatbot. According to reports, it handles basic tasks like creating automations well. However, its video identification skill is proving unreliable sometimes, leading to some genuinely unsettling notifications.

Google Gemini for Home misidentifies dogs as deer, accuracy in question

As noted by Ars Technica, recurring issue involves the AI ​​reporting fictional events. One user was alerted that, “Unexpectedly, a deer briefly entered the family room.” At that point, the camera will be simply looking at a dog. This isn’t a one-off mistake; the system frequently confuses dogs and shadows with “deer,” “cats,” or even “a person” roaming around an empty room.

The problem is particularly jarring when Gemini mislabels security-critical events. An alert that “A person was seen in the family room” can cause genuine alarm, only for the user to check the feed and find absolutely nothing. After a few false positives, users quickly learn to distrust the system. These failures defeat the entire purpose of a security monitoring system.

Google attributes these errors to the nature of large language models. The firm explains that Gemini can make “inferential mistakes” when it lacks enough visual detail or base-level common sense. In fact, the AI ​​is reportedly great at recognizing car models and logos. However, it struggles with the simple, necessary context that a human observer would never miss.

The question of launch readiness

For the security monitoring system to be genuinely useful, these inferential errors should decrease quite a bit. Google is “investing heavily in improving accurate identification” and encourages users to correct the model through feedback. However, at least for now, the core issue remains.

It is surprising that Google chose to launch a premium feature that requires this much “hand-holding” to function correctly out of the box. Gemini for Home is a new product, and it will likely improve significantly. The company must gather more data and refine the model. However, releasing a security feature that effectively cries wolf about intruders right at launch risks eroding user trust and makes it difficult to justify the $20-per-month Advanced subscription fee. Users may find the $10 per month subscription, which offers less video history but avoids the unreliable AI features, a much smarter bet for now.

The post Google Gemini for Home AI Labels Pets as Deer appeared first on Android Headlines.

Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the company’s long-awaited upgraded Siri will be coming in 2026. However, we expressed our skepticism. Looking at the state of Apple Intelligence, we can’t say we have a lot of confidence in the company’s ability to pull it off. However, our fears may be put to rest. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, the journalist has revealed that the new Siri could be powered by Google Gemini.

A little helping hand from Google

In the newsletter’s FAQ section, Gurman spoke more about the new Siri model and how Google Gemini will power it. According to Gurman, Apple has hired Google to create a custom Gemini-based model that will run on Apple’s own private cloud servers. This version of Google Gemini will help to power the new Siri model.

Apple had previously held a “bake-off” between Anthropic and Google. It seems that while Apple preferred Anthropic’s model, the company’s pre-existing relationship with Google made more sense.  That being said, there are a couple of things that we should take note of.

While Apple will use a Google Gemini-based model for its new Siri, it won’t actually be Gemini. This means that if you downloaded the Gemini app on your iPhone, or if you’ve used it on the web or Android, the version Apple will use won’t be 100% the same. Its capabilities might be the same, since it is based on Gemini, but ultimately it will still be Siri at the end of the day.

This is actually good news

If Gurman’s report is accurate, we can breathe a sigh of relief. Like we said, Apple Intelligence is horrible to use and even calling it basic is an overstatement. In this regard, it’s good to see that Apple is quietly acknowledging that it cannot do everything itself. 

Apple has already teamed up with OpenAI for more complex and advanced Apple Intelligence tasks. There have been rumors that Apple could offer Gemini as one of the model options for Apple Intelligence. We’re not sure if that will still happen, but maybe Siri powered by Gemini makes more sense.

In any case, take it with a grain of salt. 2026 is shaping up to be a massive year for Apple. If the company’s plans are on track, we should learn more about this upgraded version of Siri at WWDC 2026.

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