Global Scans · GAFA et al · Weekly Summary

• [New] Hermes 2 will be a commercial demonstration of the Kairos Power technology and is Kairos Power's first deployment under its agreement with Google to develop an advanced reactor fleet. Energy.gov
• [New] XREAL and Google launched the Android XR Developer Catalyst Program at I/O, giving select developers early access to Project Aura hardware, the Android XR SDK, and new spatial APIs. Reality Atlas
• [New] Google confirmed at I/O 2026 that Gemini Spark (the 24/7 personal AI agent) will have MCP support for third-party apps within the next few weeks, enabling it to work inside Canva, Instacart, OpenTable, and other third-party services autonomously. Build Fast with AI
• [New] Google confirmed that its intelligent eyewear will be compatible with both Android and iOS devices, making them cross-platform from launch. Memeburn
• [New] Google has announced its plans to complete its PQC migrations by 2029, six years ahead of the federal government's 2035 target. Technology Solutions That Drive Government
• [New] Google, a tech firm, hopes to test satellites of its own in 2027. Hindustan Times
• [New] Asia's middle class will reach 3.5 billion people by 2030 many of whom are first-time fitness equipment buyers and Google Trends data consistently shows rising search volume for home fitness equipment terms across India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Persistence Market Research
• [New] Amazon has plans to invest more than US$ 33 billion across Southeast Asia through 2039. Fintech Singapore
• [New] As part of several new initiatives, mobile driver's licenses will now be available at many U.S. airports for domestic flights through a joint initiative between Google Wallet, the TSA, and some state DMVs, marking Google's first major mass rollout of mobile driver's licenses. geniusee
• [New] Although Alphabet shares rose, Meta shares tumbled, a sign of investor concerns about the Facebook-parent's massive AI spending without a clear new revenue opportunity or cloud computing business. CNBC
• [New] Google showed off agents in Search, which will launch for subscribers later in 2026. The Sydney Morning Herald
• [New] Google plans to roll out more ads in AI Mode in the coming year, including ads with AI explainers and shopping ads with AI-generated product explainers. Digiday
• [New] Google plans deeper access to Gmail, Calendar, and Google Home in automotive contexts. Mean CEO's BLOG
• [New] With the Privacy Sandbox, there is a concern that Google will gain an advantage in terms of user tracking and data collection, disadvantage its competitors and other stakeholders, and favour its own advertising technology providers and owned and operated advertising inventory. Kluwer Competition Law Blog
• [New] Amazon has sent up more than 300 satellites over the past year as it inches closer to launching its Leo service, which will eventually include a constellation of roughly 7,700 satellites. / France CNBC
• [New] Google will soon unleash a wealth of new artificial intelligence-powered tools and systems, including an AI assistant that will help users by proactively performing tasks on their behalf. Hartford Courant
• [New] Renting 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs from SpaceX is not a stopgap - it is a strategic move to bridge the gap before Anthropic's own AWS and Google Cloud compute commitments come fully online in 2027. Build Fast with AI
• [New] Microsoft, Oracle, Google, Amazon, and Meta alone are spending hundreds of billions on AI infrastructure that will approach $1.1 trillion by 2027. / USA investing.com
• [New] Especially now, since Google is expected to launch a full line of smart glasses from its eyewear partners sometime in 2026. CNet
• [New] Amazon says it already uses recycled water for cooling at 24 data centers globally and plans to expand water recycling to more than 120 U.S. locations in states and counties where it operates by 2030, preserving more than 530 million gallons of drinking-water supply annually. Tank Transport
• [New] OS operating system will use Google services for navigation as well as artificial intelligence from both Google and Microsoft. MercedesBlog
• [New] Google plans to continue automatically expanding users' spending limits, leaving them and countless other customers vulnerable to bills they cannot afford, whether from fraud or a sudden traffic surge. theregister
• [New] While most major AI companies have doubled down on workplace and coding AI tools, we could still see Google, with all its vast resources, release some new media models. CNet

Last updated: 31 May 2026