|
Flash floods are notoriously difficult to predict, but Google might have a novel solution. The company just revealed Groundsource, a prediction tool for flash floods that uses Gemini to source data from old news reports. This is the first time it has used a language model for this type of work.
This provides a massive,…
— Google Research (@GoogleResearch) March 12, 2026
Google tasked Gemini with sorting through 5 million news articles from around the world and isolating flood reports. It transformed this data into a geo-tagged series of chronological events. Next, researchers trained a model to ingest current weather forecasts and leverage the Groundsource data to determine the likelihood of a flash flood in a given area.
We don't have any concrete information as to how accurate Google's forecast model is, though that should come over time. One trial user did say it helped his organization respond quicker to localized weather events. For now, the company is highlighting risks for urban areas in 150 countries via its
|
|
The unit formerly known as Google Fiber is spun out and plans to offer wider fiber internet service.
|
|
Google has announced that GFiber is merging with Astound Broadband, in an agreement that sees Astound's parent company Stonepeak become the majority owner, with Alphabet retaining a minority stake.
No financial specifics were detailed in a press release, but the new combined business will be an independent provider led by GFiber's executive team, who Google says will use its "expertise in high-speed fiber innovation to manage the combined network footprint." Astound already serves over one million customers across the US, and by joining forces Google says the two providers will be able to grant better internet access to more communities.
GFiber, formerly known as Google Fiber, has been around for nearly 15 years, and currently offers speeds of up to 8Gbps on its $150/month Edge 8 Gig plan. A 20 Gig service was expected to leave
|
|
US regulators have approved eight pilot programs across 26 states that will allow Archer, Joby and other eVTOL companies to finally start testing aircraft this summer, according to a US Department of Transportation (DoT) press release. That will allow those manufacturers to run trials for use cases like urban air taxi services, regional passenger transportation, cargo, emergency medical operations and autonomous flight technology.
The new projects were made possible by the White House's Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (e-IPP) approved last year to allow certification for such aircraft to progress after being stuck in the mud for years. "By safely testing the deployment of these futuristic air taxis and other AAM vehicles, we can fundamentally improve how the traveling public and products move," US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time.
Other FAA aircraft partners include Beta, Electra, Elroy Air, Wisk, Ampaire and Reliable Robotics. Key pilot programs were approved for the Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and North Carolina Departments of Transportation, along with New York and New Jersey Port Authority
|
|
