Google to launch job listings initiative

The search giant has announced Google For Jobs, a new feature which will collate relevant available positions and match them with users of the platform who are seeking work. During the annual Google I/O developer conference, CEO Sundar Pichai said he wants users to be able to find a job “right next door.”

Senate Democrats write open letter to all internet users

In a bid to drum up support for the current laws which protect net neutrality, Senate Democrats have addressed “everyone who uses the internet” directly. In this open letter, they claim that the FCC’s plans to roll back net neutrality protections will threaten the “free and open internet as we know it.”

Alphabet balloons connect flood-hit Peru

Project Loon has announced it is using artificial intelligence to “steer” its wifi balloons, by guiding them into weather streams. This is enabling the company to broadcast connectivity to communities affected by floods in Lima, Chimbote and Piura.

Google wants to build ubiquitous assistant

Alphabet’s Google wants its virtual assistant to become the one everybody trusts. In order to achieve this, it means overtaking Apple’s Siri. This in turn means stepping up its machine learning capability, and figuring out what it is that people care about. “We want to look at the whole spectrum of what we can do,” says Valerie Nygaard, Product Manager for Google Assistant. “We look at what our competitors can do, and what we can do, and we take that very seriously.”

Facebook tries to cut clickbait from News Feed

Facebook is once again rejigging its algorithms to try and weed out misinformation and misleading content from the News Feed. It is the third time the company has done this since 2014; in this instance, Facebook specifically wants to minimise the reach of clickbait without dismissing all of a publisher’s other content.