Google’s new AI worlds can talk back
An AI-generated video can show you an imaginary place, but you can’t usually decide where to go next. Google’s Genie 4, announced Tuesday, creates worlds you can move through and change as they unfold. This version also generates sound, including dialogue that changes in response to what you do.
Google’s demonstrations use keyboard controls to explore and written instructions to change the scene. You can change the weather, add a person or move the camera by typing what you want. The company says filmmakers are testing it to try out camera angles, lighting and dialogue before shooting a scene. That could make it easier to show someone an idea that’s hard to explain in a script or a sketch.
These are Google’s demonstrations, and the worlds still have limits. Details can drift as you move around, and continuous interaction lasts a few minutes rather than a long gaming session.
For now, Genie 4 is a research preview for trusted testers. Google plans to bring it to AI Ultra subscribers through Project Genie first, but hasn’t given a public release date. You can watch the examples and join the waitlist below.
See Google’s examples and waitlist
Firefox can watch for the update you keep checking
If you keep opening the same store page to see whether something has gone on sale, Firefox now has a way to do that checking for you. Mozilla has added page watching to Smart Window, its optional AI browsing feature.
You tell it what change you’re waiting for and give it the pages to check. A task can follow up to five pages, so you could watch a few stores for a sale or several job boards for a particular role. Firefox checks daily or weekly and puts matching updates in its Tasks menu. You can also turn on desktop notifications.
There’s one important catch: the checks only run while Firefox is open. Close the browser and the checks stop until you open it again.
It’s available in the desktop Smart Window beta, in English in the U.S. and Canada. If you have access, type /watch in the chat, describe the change, add your pages and choose how often to check. Start with something you already find yourself looking up, so you can see whether the alerts are worth keeping.
Apple’s next assistant will work inside your document
Asking a chatbot to fix a presentation can mean copying slides back and forth just to show it what you’re working on. Apple announced Tuesday that it’s adding assistants directly to Keynote, Pages and Numbers, with access to the document you have open.
Apple says the Keynote assistant can help design and animate slides, while Pages can draft and reorganize text. In Numbers, it can suggest a chart and show you a preview before you choose it. The appeal is being able to ask for a change while you’re looking at the work, without moving everything into another app.
The features arrive in November as part of Apple Creator Studio, which costs $12.99 a month in the U.S. Existing subscribers get the update at no extra charge. The assistants launch in beta in U.S. English and require an Apple Intelligence-capable device running iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27 or later.
The regular versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers remain free. You don’t need the subscription just to keep using those apps.
See Apple’s update and requirements
Scott