Over the past year, we have continued to make incredible progress in artificial intelligence. Today, we are releasing the first model in the Gemini 2.0 family of models: an experimental version of Gemini 2.0 Flash. It’s our workhorse model with low latency and enhanced performance at the cutting edge of our technology, at scale.  We are also sharing the frontiers of our agentic research by showcasing prototypes enabled by Gemini 2.0’s native multimodal capabilities. Gemini 2.0 Flash Gemini 2.0 Flash builds on the success of 1.5 Flash, our most popular model yet for developers, with enhan ..read more

It's time for our annual Year in Search list, revealing Kiwis' top trending Google searches of 2024 - and it's packed with surprises! What was on Kiwis' minds? Kiwis had their eyes fixed on the world stage in 2024, with the US election dominating trending search queries. Sports captivated the nation. From the UEFA European Football Championship and Cricket T20 World Cup to the All Blacks’ rugby clash against England and the Australian Open, Kiwis proved once again they are sports fanatics. A curious trend emerged this year: a surge in searches for the humble flat white. Perhaps it was fue ..read more

Kiwis will soon have greater protection from online scams as Google rolls out Financial Services Verification in New Zealand, a step forward in the company's decades-long efforts to combat scams and create a safer online experience. Starting November 7, select advertisers of financial products and services will be required to complete a verification process before they can run ads on Google's platforms. For most advertisers, this will entail obtaining verification that they are authorised by New Zealand authorities, including the Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank of New Zealand, t ..read more

As a significant longtime supporter of New Zealand’s news industry, we are deeply concerned about the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. This Bill proposes a "link tax" that would require Google to pay simply for linking to news articles. While Google supports efforts to foster a sustainable future for New Zealand news, this Bill is not the right approach. We have outlined these concerns transparently in public submissions and in ongoing consultation with the Government. We’ve been transparent with the Government that if the Bill were to proceed on its current trajectory and became law, we wo ..read more

Kia ora koutou! As country director of Google New Zealand, and a passionate advocate for te reo Māori, I'm thrilled to share our small role in celebrating this year's Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. If you often use te reo Māori when you're chatting with friends, family or colleagues online, you might find this Chrome extension handy. Google Input Tools makes it easy to add macrons to your writing on a Chromebook, and switch between different languages with just a click.  If you wish to learn te reo Māori in a fun, interactive way, check out the Kupu app. We worked with Spark on this inno ..read more

Wildlife.ai Trust, a grantee of the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund 2.0 Wildlife.ai Trust, a New Zealand conservation tech organisation, is one of 18 Asia-Pacific grantees selected as part of the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund 2.0. Established by AVPN, the $5M Sustainability Seed Fund is supported by Google.org and the Asian Development Bank as the outreach partner. In its second iteration, this fund set out to support organisations using AI and Cloud tools to tackle pressing environmental challenges. Wildlife.ai Trust will use the grant to create Wildlife Watcher, a smart camera trap using AI ..read more

Government officials, business leaders and Google reps discussed AI’s potential to build a brighter future for New Zealand Aug 22 - Google has reaffirmed its passion to support the New Zealand government in harnessing the power of AI to build a brighter future for the country. This was expressed during high-level discussions held yesterday in Wellington with Honourable Judith Collins, Minister for Digitising Government, and other key government officials. At the event co-hosted by Minister Collins and Google New Zealand, a delegation of Google representatives, led by Country Director ..read more

When 24 of the brightest, most curious minds from the Māori and Pasifika communities step into Google New Zealand's halls, amazing things happen. Even though it was through a virtual internship, these students and working professionals didn't let that stop them from dreaming up solutions to some of the Pacific's most pressing challenges, and picking up important career skills. This virtual internship program, a first in Aotearoa, was part of our collaboration with TupuToa to foster Māori and Pasifika representation in the tech industry. Over three weeks, the 24 interns, divided into four g ..read more

We can see that new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are becoming part of everyday life and changing the way we work.  Having the skills and opportunity to use these new technologies is crucial - which is why we recently launched a new AI Essentials course, helping people to learn AI skills.  But we’re also keenly aware of the need to ensure New Zealand’s educators have the capabilities they need to teach the next generation of  technologists, scientists and engineers. How do we ensure we are preparing New Zealand students for a digita ..read more

Image: Tamariki using the new te reo Māori keyboard Tēnā koe me mōrena whānau. Typing this phrase is now easier than ever with the new te reo Māori keyboard on my Chromebook. In collaboration with PB Tech and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori - Māori Language Commission - we’ve supported the development of a special localised Chromebook that offers a reo Māori keyboard. Reaching the milestone of 5000 laptops delivered to tamariki across the motu, this kaupapa was first launched during last year’s Wiki o te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week. The goal of this mahi is to empower New Zealand ..read more