In a significant move, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently held a strategic meeting with employees to outline the tech giant’s priorities for the upcoming year. The plan, as reported by CNBC, highlights two key focus areas: addressing the growing scrutiny from regulators worldwide and advancing artificial intelligence. The meeting was reportedly held at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California and attended by employees both in-person and virtually.

“I think 2025 will be critical…I think it’s really important we internalize the urgency of this moment, and need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high. These are disruptive moments. In 2025, we need to be relentlessly focused on unlocking the benefits of this technology and solve real user problems.” Pichai was quoted by CNBC as saying.

‘Gemini’ app aims for half a billion users

Google sees the Gemini app as its next one to reach half a billion users. “With the Gemini app, there is strong momentum, particularly over the last few months,” Pichai said. “But we have some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position there as well.” Pichai said that “scaling Gemini on the consumer side will be our biggest focus next year.”

Google is making significant investments to maintain its lead and stay ahead in the game, principally through Gemini, its AI model. The Gemini app gives users access to a number of tools, including Google’s chatbot.

Project Astra

Project Astra, Google’s experimental version of a universal assistant that the company announced in May, will be updated in the first half of the year.

WhatsApp to bring reverse image search in 2025

To combat the rise of misinformation online, WhatsApp is set to introduce a new reverse image search feature. Initially spotted in the WhatsApp Android beta version, the feature has now been found on WhatsApp Web Beta, according to WABetainfo. This tool is reportedly capable of addressing up to 90% of misinformation.

Reportedly, WhatsApp will allow users to authenticate an image shared with them by taking help from Google. The new feature should ideally help users identify if the shared image is edited, manipulated or even taken out of context. The positive part of this feature is that the users do not have to download the image on their desktop and WhatsApp will add a shortcut to launch the reverse image search process right from the web application.

Apple to reportedly launch iPad 11 early next year

iPad 11 will be reportedly launched at the same time when iPadOS 18.3 update will be rolled out to the public. In fact, the upcoming tablet will come with the update pre-installed. As Apple typically releases its XX.3 update in the month of January, We could see a new launch by Apple as early as next month.

A previous report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicated that Apple plans to launch the iPad 11 in Spring 2025, likely around March. The iPad 11 is expected to feature Apple’s first wireless model for 5G and Wi-Fi connectivity. It will be powered by the A17 Pro chipset and could be the most affordable device at the time to support Apple’s Intelligence features.