AI news feature now testing on some Google TV devices

Summary

Google TV is testing an AI-powered News Briefs feature for some users in the US.
News Briefs is an experimental feature, and presents users with an overview of top new stories and related YouTube videos.
Google TV is adding Gemini integration and an Ambient Mode to its devices soon.

At CES 2025, Google announced some exciting new updates that will soon be available on Google TV, including Gemini integration and presence detection. Now, the tech giant has announced that it is beginning to test an AI-powered news feature for Google TV, which is rolling out for select users in the US.

The feature is called News Briefs, and it will use AI to present users with an overview of top news stories and YouTube videos related to them from “trusted news sources.” If you’ve been randomly selected to test News Briefs, it can be found by navigating to your For You page on Google TV.

“Using Gemini models and human evaluation, News Briefs presents overviews of the top news stories, and surfaces related YouTube videos from trusted news sources for you to learn more.” Google said. “Briefs are updated with top stories throughout the day so you can easily keep up with the latest news.”

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News Briefs is an experimental feature

Hopefully, it will avoid the fate of Apple Intelligence’s AI notification summaries

Google says that News Briefs is only an experiment in the US. This means the feature might not see a wider rollout after its initial testing period. I think News Briefs is a feature users will either love or hate. Some people might want to see news stories while browsing Google TV, while others might prefer to avoid it altogether.

According to Google, News Briefs uses “Gemini Models and human evaluation.” Hopefully, its human involvement will prevent it from encountering any of the problems Apple Intelligence’s AI notification news summaries ran into. The BBC complained about Apple’s AI notification summaries after it generated misleading headlines. Apple recently decided to halt AI news summaries with iOS 18.3.

Google TV has a big year ahead. At CES 2025, Google unveiled a new Ambient mode coming to Google TV devices that will display relevant information on a TV when a user’s presence is detected. The feature uses radar-like technology to detect a user’s presence, not cameras, so Google TV won’t be spying on you. Additionally, Google Assistant will soon be integrated with Gemini, allowing users to converse with it more naturally.