Google signs hydropower deal for data centres, sets date for Pixel roll out

Google has agreed to secure as much as 3GW of US hydropower in the world’s largest corporate clean power pact for hydroelectricity, the company said on Tuesday, as big tech pursues the expansion of energy-hungry datacenters. The deal between Google and Brookfield Asset Management includes initial 20-year power purchase agreements, totaling $3bn, for electricity generated from two hydropower facilities in Pennsylvania. The tech giant will also invest $25bn in datacenters across Pennsylvania and neighboring states over the next two years, Semafor reported on Tuesday. Guardian 

The rumors were true. The eagerly anticipated Made by Google product launch event will happen on August 20 at 1PM ET, and it looks to be a product-packed event. It’s the summer of fresh Android as Google is, just a little more than a month after Samsung Unpacked all its Android 16 foldables, revealing a host of new Pixel gadgets, including new phones, new watches, and, yes, new earbuds. Google sent out invites on Wednesday and invited media to Brooklyn, NY, on August 20 for “an in-person Made By Google” show.  Tech Radar 

Elon Musk’s Tesla faces the loss of billions of dollars in government subsidies, following his explosive fallout with Donald Trump, after the president cut state support for green industries.  Subsidies have been central to Tesla’s rise from upstart manufacturer to the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) producer in less than 20 years. But analysis by Sky News’ Data & Forensics team reveals the president’s cuts could leave a significant gap in its future earnings, raising questions about its business model and market valuation. Sky News 

Beijing has warned Labour that it will “resolutely safeguard” its electric car industry after it emerged the Government will block Chinese electric cars from a new grant scheme. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy called on the UK to follow World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and create a “non-discriminatory environment for investment”. WTO rules stipulate that members must not give favourable treatment to one country over another when it comes to trading goods and services. Telegraph 

“I’m scared for the future of games,” says Chris Goodyear. “It could end up going the way that theatre has, and become a very privileged thing.” At one of the UK’s largest conferences for video game developers, social class was on the agenda. The concern raised by Chris, a producer working to highlight accessibility barriers in the industry, is one that some in the sector feel has gone unappreciated for too long. This year, Develop:Brighton featured its first meet-up dedicated to working-class and low-income people in the UK games industry. The event was put on by the non-profit organisation Into Games. BBC 

As promised earlier this year, Google Gemini AI has made its way to the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 series, and it is now expanding to some of the older Galaxy Watch models. The new Watch8 series models marked the initial roll-out of Gemini AI on WearOS, and Google promised to expand to more smartwatches running Wear OS 4 or newer.

The only catch for Samsung watches is that you’ll need a Galaxy Watch that’s running the very latest One UI 8 Watch interface on top of Wear OS. GSM Arena