by Raphael Dudler | May 24, 2026 | gafam watch
The week of May 18–24, 2026 will be remembered as the moment AI stopped being a tool that answers questions and became a system that takes action — specifically, commercial action. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol signed Meta, Microsoft, Stripe, Klarna and Affirm as partners for end-to-end agentic checkout. Amazon’s Alexa for Shopping buys at third-party retailers. Microsoft’s Copilot executes tasks across enterprise workflows. And Zuckerberg admitted most AI agents aren’t ready for his mother. gafam.ai’s Sunday analysis of the week that changed AI commerce forever.
by Raphael Dudler | May 20, 2026 | google ai
Day 2 of Google I/O 2026 fills in the details that the keynote left out. Gemini Spark — Google’s 24/7 personal AI agent — requires AI Ultra at $100 per month. Sundar Pichai told the audience that artificial general intelligence is “just a few years away.” Ask YouTube turns Google’s video platform into a conversational AI search engine. And Google is moving from prompt limits to a compute-based usage model that charges by complexity, not by query. The implications for European users and regulators are significant.
by Raphael Dudler | May 18, 2026 | google ai
Google I/O 2026 is confirmed. Gemini 3.2 Flash — not 4.0 — deploys simultaneously across Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and Chrome for billions of users. Android XR glasses from Samsung, XREAL, Warby Parker and Gentle Monster get their first public preview. Gemma 4 open-weights launch commercially. Google Health Coach arrives at $9.99 per month. This is not a capability story. It is a distribution story. gafam.ai — the European eye on Big Tech and AI.
by Raphael Dudler | May 18, 2026 | google ai
Today is the day. Google I/O 2026 keynote opens at 10am PT — 19:00 CET. The entire industry is watching one question above all others: how good is the new Gemini model? Sources say it lands roughly at the level of OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 — and meaningfully behind Anthropic’s Claude Mythos, the frontier model that redefined the industry benchmark in April 2026. A competent Gemini is no longer a headline achievement. It is the minimum requirement. gafam.ai watches live — from a European perspective. Published by gafam.ai — The European Eye on Big Tech & Artificial Intelligence.
by Raphael Dudler | May 14, 2026 | google ai
Google I/O opens in five days. Gemini Omni — a new video editing and generation model — has already surfaced ahead of the keynote. Android XR glasses will be previewed. Aluminium OS is expected. Gemini 4 is coming. And Google’s agentic AI push will define the developer agenda for the next 12 months. gafam.ai’s complete preview of the five things that matter most at the most important Google event in years. Published by gafam.ai — The European Eye on Big Tech & Artificial Intelligence.
