Google is making a major move in the cybersecurity space, announcing on Tuesday a $32 billion all-cash deal to acquire cloud security platform Wiz. The tech giant says the acquisition is driven by the increasing need for robust cybersecurity solutions as artificial intelligence becomes more deeply embedded in technology infrastructure.

Bringing Wiz under the Google Cloud umbrella is expected to enhance multi-cloud capabilities and offer a comprehensive security platform for businesses of all sizes in the AI era, according to a joint statement from both companies.

“With AI’s growing role in technology, cybersecurity has never been more critical in defending against emerging threats and safeguarding national security,” the companies noted.

This deal marks the largest acquisition in Google’s history and will serve as a test of President Donald Trump’s stance on big tech mergers, following years of resistance to major acquisitions under the Biden administration.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, had previously been in talks to acquire Wiz last summer, but the deal reportedly fell through due to regulatory concerns, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Founded in 2020 by Assaf Rappaport and his team—who had previously sold a security startup to Microsoft—Wiz has quickly grown into a key player in cloud security. Despite the acquisition, Wiz will continue providing services to major platforms, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Headquartered in New York, the company also has offices in Tel Aviv and three other U.S. cities.

Speaking after the announcement, Rappaport explained that Wiz’s platform continuously scans an organization’s code and cloud environments in real time, identifying and blocking active threats while prioritizing the most critical risks.

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Pakistan is set to take a major leap in digital payments as Google Wallet officially launches in the country on March 12, 2025.

As per sources, Google executives will arrive in Karachi for the launch event. The rollout will begin on the night of March 12, with banks and fintech companies integrating the platform according to their readiness. Some banks have already completed their integrations, ensuring a smooth transition.

A Game-Changer for Pakistan’s Digital Economy

The launch of Google Wallet, which includes Google Pay, marks a significant milestone in Pakistan’s journey toward a cashless economy. To celebrate the occasion, Visa, a leading global payments provider, is hosting an exclusive event on March 12 to signal the official start of this new digital payments era.

Pakistan’s fintech landscape has been evolving rapidly, driven by the increasing adoption of smartphones, improved internet access, and government initiatives promoting financial inclusion. With over 230 million people, including a young and digitally savvy population, Pakistan presents an attractive market for digital payment providers.

Google Pay’s Role in Pakistan’s Payments Revolution

Despite rising mobile phone usage, cash still dominates Pakistan’s transaction landscape, with digital wallets and bank card usage remaining limited. However, this scenario is changing as both the public and private sectors invest in strengthening the country’s financial ecosystem.

With its secure, fast, and convenient payment features, Google Pay is expected to revolutionize the way consumers and businesses send and receive money. The platform will support bill payments, fund transfers, and contactless transactions, enabling users to link their bank accounts and cards for seamless digital payments.

Strengthening Pakistan’s Fintech Sector

Google’s entry into Pakistan is a significant boost for the fintech industry, encouraging innovation through its open API integrations. Many local banks and fintech firms have already integrated with Google Pay, paving the way for a more interconnected digital payments ecosystem.

As part of Google Wallet, the platform also offers users the ability to store payment methods, loyalty cards, and boarding passes securely in one place. With Google Wallet’s integration with Google Pay, users will have a streamlined experience managing their financial transactions on smartphones and smartwatches.

A Step Toward a Cashless Future

The launch of Google Wallet in Pakistan is more than just a new payment option—it represents a shift toward a modern, cashless economy. The move is expected to attract further investments from international tech companies, accelerating Pakistan’s digital transformation.

With its secure transactions, broad financial partnerships, and user-friendly experience, Google Pay is set to become a key player in shaping the future of digital payments in Pakistan.

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Shubman Gill scored a century and India dominated Bangladesh.(AP Photo: Altaf Qadri)

In a dominant start to their ICC Champions Trophy campaign, India secured a comfortable six-wicket victory over Bangladesh on Thursday. Shubman Gill led the charge with an unbeaten century, steering India past Bangladesh’s total of 228 with 21 balls to spare.

Bangladesh, after being put to bat, managed to score 228 runs in 49.4 overs. Despite a few promising partnerships, the Indian bowling attack kept the opposition in check. India, in response, chased down the target smoothly, finishing at 231/4 in 46.3 overs, thanks to Gill’s outstanding performance.

However, what grabbed attention beyond the match was a post made by Google’s official Facebook page following Bangladesh’s defeat. The post, which included a lighthearted message in Hindi—“Chain ki neend fr” (translated as “Peaceful sleep for real”) along with emojis and a dream bubble featuring the match result—was perceived by some Bangladeshi fans as disrespectful.

While Indian fans celebrated the victory, many in Bangladesh criticized Google’s post, calling it an unnecessary mockery of the losing team. The post quickly went viral, sparking debates across social media platforms. Some users defended it as friendly banter, while others urged Google to maintain neutrality in sports-related content.

As of now, Google has not issued any official clarification regarding the post. The Champions Trophy continues with high anticipation, as both teams gear up for their upcoming matches.

The post Google’s Post After India’s Win Upsets Bangladesh Fans appeared first on Techlist.

Google commits over $1 billion in fresh investment to AI startup Anthropic, strengthening its position against Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The move intensifies the AI arms race as tech giants pour billions into next-gen foundation models.

Google is set to invest over $1 billion into Anthropic, a leading competitor to OpenAI, the Financial Times reported. This fresh funding, separate from Anthropic’s recent $2 billion round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, highlights Google’s growing commitment to the AI race. With this, Google’s total investment in Anthropic reaches $3 billion, as Amazon also strengthens its position with an $8 billion stake in the company.

OpenAI Rival Anthropic, a major player in the AI foundation model sector, declined to comment on the latest funding. Google also did not provide a statement outside regular business hours. The company’s annualized revenue has reached $875 million, with its AI models offered via direct access and third-party cloud providers like Amazon Web Services.

The competition in AI development has intensified since Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, sparking an industry-wide “AI arms race.” OpenAI recently closed a $6.6 billion funding round, taking its valuation to a staggering $157 billion. Meanwhile, the development of large language models remains an expensive endeavor, requiring significant investments in computing power and AI talent.

Anthropic’s rise and the increasing investments from tech giants underscore the high-stakes battle for dominance in the future of artificial intelligence.

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August proved turbulent for some of the world’s biggest tech companies as escalating costs tied to artificial intelligence (AI) development and growing fears of an economic downturn led to sharp declines in market values. Industry giants like Alphabet, Amazon, and Tesla saw significant losses, raising concerns about the resilience of tech stocks in the face of mounting financial pressures.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.O) experienced a 4.7% drop in market value, largely driven by a slowdown in YouTube’s advertising sales. Additionally, a U.S. judge ruled that Google had violated antitrust laws, and the emergence of competition from OpenAI, which is developing an AI-based search engine prototype, further contributed to the decline.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) also faced a decline, with its market value falling by 4.5%, as the company grappled with slowing online sales.

Tesla (TSLA.O) saw its market capitalization drop by 7.7%, following weaker-than-expected Q2 earnings and news that Canada planned a new 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles. The automaker, which started shipping Shanghai-made EVs to Canada last year, faces concerns about potential profit impacts from its higher-cost U.S. production base.

Nvidia (NVDA.O), a dominant player in the AI chip market, experienced a 7.7% decline in market value in the last week of August. Despite commanding over 80% of the AI chip market, the company’s projected third-quarter gross margins fell below market estimates, and its revenues only met expectations, disappointing investors who had hoped for stronger performance.

On the other hand, some companies enjoyed positive market outcomes. Eli Lilly (LLY.N) saw its market value surge nearly 20%, leading market gainers, driven by robust sales and the successful launch of a weight-loss drug that significantly reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in overweight adults.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) closed the month with its market value surpassing $1 trillion for the first time, reflecting strong investor confidence in the conglomerate that Warren Buffett built over nearly six decades.

Meta (META.O) also enjoyed a market value increase of nearly 10%, after exceeding market expectations for its second-quarter revenues and forecasting strong revenue growth for the July-September quarter. This indicates that strong digital ad spending on its platforms could help offset the costs of its AI investments.

News Source: Reuters
Reporting by Patturaja Murugaboopathy and Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru. Edited by Tomasz Janowski.

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As part of an artificial intelligence clash with Microsoft, which has spent billions in the makers of ChatGPT, the massively successful language programme that successfully imitates human writing, Google announced on Monday that it will unveil a conversational chatbot named Bard.

The San Francisco company OpenAI’s ChatGPT has made a splash for its ability to compose essays, poems, or programming code on demand in a matter of seconds, igniting widespread concerns about cheating or the extinction of entire professions.

With hopes that it will adapt the programme to its Office suite and Bing search engine, Microsoft stated last month that it was supporting OpenAI and that it has started integrating ChatGPT features into its Teams platform.

The possibility of Google’s integration in Bing brought attention to the corporation and rumours that its globally renowned search engine would experience unprecedented competition from an AI-powered rival.

According to media sources, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who departed the company some years ago, were called back to brainstorm ideas and expedite a reaction after ChatGPT’s sudden popularity was deemed a “code red” threat.

The lacklustre profits reported last week by Alphabet, the company that owns Google, which fell short of market forecasts, increased the pressure to act. The corporation revealed last month that it was letting go of 12,000 employees as it focused more on AI projects.

The fact that Google made its announcement on the eve of Microsoft’s AI-related launch event is just another indication that the two tech titans will compete for control of the technology, also known as generative AI.

According to independent tech analyst Rob Enderle, “Generative AI is a game changer and just like the development of the internet sank the networking giants that came before (AOL, CompuServe, etc.), it has the potential to disrupt the competitive dynamic for search and information.

He continued, “Google still largely depends on the fact that their search engine is the most popular; this might change that, consigning them to history.”

The post Google Debuts A ChatGPT Rival Called Bard In Limited Release appeared first on Techlist.

Google struggles to stay up with the competition for its widely used search engine as the threat from ChatGPT grows. The business spent almost $300 million in Anthropic, an AI startup developing its own Claude general-purpose chatbot that might compete with ChatGPT.

Although it’s unclear whether Claude will be integrated into its services, Google’s investment in late 2022, with a 10% ownership in the company, can be considered as a step towards competing with its rivals.

Financial Time reports that Google already has a lot of professionals working on AI language models, and the decision may have been made to expand Google’s cloud computing division.

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Last week, AB Bernstein and research analysts Toni Sacconaghi appeared on CNBC with a guest. Because of his assertion that Google intends to pay Apple to be the default search engine on its devices, Sacconaghi was present.

Furthermore, Toni Sacconaghi added that, based on studies conducted by his business, Google will have spent $10 to $12 billion on this project by 2020. Google has a budget of over $15 billion. This number exceeds our expectations, despite the fact that we are aware that Google pays a significant sum to be the default search engine on Apple products.

Sacconaghi, meanwhile, forecasted that Google would provide Apple $15 billion in 2021 and $18–20 billion in 2022. But if the predicted outcomes pan out as expected, Sacconaghi thinks Google would lose its position as Apple’s default search engine in 2022. Maybe later, taking into account the costs and market dangers.

The phrase “default search engine” alludes to the fact that Safari’s search or URL bars will automatically turn questions into Google searches. Siri also conducts speech and text searches. A representative for Apple countered by saying that you could instruct Siri to utilise Bing or DuckDuckGo for searches. However, searches indicate that Apple users do not frequently alter their default search engine.

Additionally, 90% of Apple devices prefer to utilise the built-in Safari browser, according to yearly studies. Overall, Apple and Android have lower market shares for mobile devices. Safari accounts for 53% of all mobile web browser usage, though, thanks to Apple phone and tablet users.

As a result, the Apple and Google settlement raised antitrust issues in the US. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is focusing on its current case, which is the transaction from 2020. Google currently claims that regulating default search engine agreements will generally result in poor-quality search results. Additionally, it can cause device prices to increase.

The post Google Estimated To Be Paying $15 Billion To Remain Default Search Engine On Devices appeared first on Techlist.

In Pakistan, Google has launched a one-box suicide hotline! Thanks to Google’s partnership with ‘Umang Pakistan,’ users can obtain fast help at the top of the search result page when searching for anything related to suicide.

Umang Pakistan has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a mental health helpline that gives support to vulnerable Pakistanis who are contemplating or planning suicide. Each year, between 130,000 and 270,000 people attempt suicide in Pakistan, according to the World Health Organization.

“Anyone in Pakistan looking for suicide-related information, such as “suicide hotline” or “how can I commit suicide,” would now be directed to the “Umang Pakistan” helpline, according to the notice.

Search interest in mental health issues is on the rise, according to the IT industry.

“As we can see from Google Trends, Pakistanis are searching for mental health solutions,” said Farhan Qureshi, Google Regional Director for Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. We recognise that when seeking help, time is of the essence, especially for those who are contemplating suicide. We believe that by using this service, vulnerable clients will be able to find help when they need it.”

Meanwhile, both desktop and mobile search results in Pakistan will carry an update on a suicide hotline.

The post Google Introduced a ‘Suicide Hotline’ one Box for Pakistan appeared first on Techlist.

Google launched Street View, a 360-degree map of the entire planet, fifteen years ago. Today, over 220 billion Street View photographs from over 100 countries, including Pakistan, are available, letting individuals to completely experience what it’s like to be there immediately from their phone or computer. And Street View is important to our mapping efforts because it allows you to see the most up-to-date information about the globe while also building the groundwork for a more immersive, intuitive map.

People in Pakistan have been using Pegman to look for sites for years, from the majestic peaceful blue tides of the Arabian Sea to the eye-glaring beauty of Northern Pakistan, Street View has opened a new era of tourism. In reality, as Pakistan began to open up during the pandemic, residents used Street View to check for updates on places they planned to visit, such as airports and mosques.

We’re sharing the areas Pakistanis had fun discovering on Street View during the last year as part of Street View’s 15th birthday celebrations:

Most Popular Places:

The 10 most popular places on Street View in Pakistan were:

1. Islamabad International Airport
2. Jinnah International Airport (JIAP)
3. Shah Faisal Masjid
4. Badshahi Mosque
5. Frere Hall
6. Allama Iqbal International Airport
7. The Centaurus Mall Islamabad
8. Minar-e-Pakistan
9. Mohenjo-daro
10. Umbrella Waterfall

Most Visited Cities:

The top cities that people visited on Street View in Pakistan over the past year were:

1. Karachi
2. Lahore
3. Islamabad
4. Multan
5. Peshawar
6. Faisalabad
7. Gujranwala
8. Swat
9. Sialkot 

Most Popular Museums:

Over the last year, these are the ten most popular museums that people explored on Street View in Pakistan:

1. Mazar-e-Quaid, Jinnah’s Mausoleum
2. Lahore Museum
3. Mohatta Palace Museum
4. Pakistan Air Force Museum
5. Quaid e Azam House Museum
6. TDF MagnifiScience Centre
7. Pakistan Maritime Museum
8. Peshawar Museum
9. Lok Virsa Heritage Museum
10. Gulzar Palace

Most Explored Beaches and Lakes:

Last year, Charna Cliff and Hawksbay Beach were two of the most popular beaches in Pakistan that people explored on Street View. Here is the complete list:

1. Charna Cliff
2. Hawksbay Beach
3. Sunehri Beach Deep Blue Sea
4. Spoon Lake
5. Ratti Gali Lake
6. Tushan Beach
7. Gwadar Sea Port
8. Clifton Beach
9. Khasala Dam
10. Neela wahn Ponds

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