Google has rolled out Gemini Spark, an AI agent that carries out web tasks inside the Chrome browser. Beyond answering questions, it can browse sites, compare prices, make reservations and fill out forms, and it can keep working in the background even if the Chrome window is closed. Use requires Windows 11 or macOS, a personal Google account, a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription, and Safe Browsing set to Standard or Enhanced protection.

Price competition among AI companies is intensifying as Chinese firms expand global share with cost-effective open-source models and leading U.S. companies respond with price cuts. DeepSeek’s new coding model V4 Flash drew attention for performance close to Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.8 at a far lower price. Interest is also rising in open-weight models, including for video generation. In South Korea, companies are moving ahead of an August evaluation for a government-led foundation model project.