Google I/O 2025: Day 1 Highlights

👋 Good morning/evening (wherever you are). It’s Tuesday.

Google I/O’s first day was big. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s Google’s biggest developer conference of the year.

Here’s the blog recap.

If you don’t want to read, this image sums it up:

And yes, the Veo 3 rumors were true: you can now generate a video with visuals, dialogue, and background audio.

Over the next week, expect a flood of AI clips with talking characters.

Now that AI is getting better at generating realistic scenes…what’s next?

AI hybrid films.

Google DeepMind teamed up with Primordial Soup, a new venture founded by CHROMISTA founder & director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream).

The first project, "Ancestra," directed by Eliza McNitt (creator of the award-winning VR series SPHERES), blends live-action performances with AI-generated visuals.

Watch the BTS + movie trailer (I posted on LinkedIn).

OK let’s keep going ↓

Here’s what you should know:

• The latest Google Gemma AI model can run on phones

  Gemma 3n leverages a Google DeepMind innovation called Per-Layer Embeddings (PLE) that delivers a significant reduction in RAM usage. While the raw parameter count is 5B and 8B, this innovation allows you to run larger models on mobile devices or live-stream from the cloud, with a memory overhead comparable to a 2B and 4B model, meaning the models can operate with a dynamic memory footprint of just 2GB and 3GB.

• Google Meet can now translate in real-time

  Yes, live voice translation via video chat is here. Watch the YT video (link above). Also check out Google Beam.

• Google’s asynchronous coding agent (Jules) is here

  It’s free (for now), play with it here.

• Apple to open its AI models to developers

  Apple is preparing to allow third-party developers to write software using its artificial intelligence models, in a push to boost the creation of new applications, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

• Rice to offer Bachelor of Science in AI

  To prepare the next generation of innovators and thought leaders in AI, Rice University will offer a Bachelor of Science in AI beginning in the fall of 2025. Luay Nakhleh, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering and Computing, said the new major will prepare students to shape the future of AI — not just as skilled practitioners but as thoughtful and strategic leaders.

• Geospatial intelligence agency urges faster AI deployment

  Speaking at the GEOINT Symposium on May 18, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Deputy Director Brett Markham said the agency is making strides with AI but emphasized that full-scale adoption is still a work in progress.

• AI entertainment studio Promise partners with Google

  The AI entertainment studio Promise has secured new investment from a number of high-profile backers, including Google, Michael Ovit

The numbers:

• Google will invest up to $150M in Warby Parker to co-develop AI-powered smart glasses built on Android XR.

• Ray Kurzweil’s humanoid robotics startup, Beyond Imagination, is raising $100M at a $500M valuation, with Gauntlet Ventures as sole investor.

• Catena Labs raised $18M to build an AI-native financial institution designed for agentic workflows.

• remberg, a German AI-powered maintenance software startup, raised a $17M Series A+ led by Acton Capital and Oxx.

• Persist.AI, which uses AI to streamline drug formulation, raised a $12M Series A led by Spero Ventures.

• AqlanX, an AI-driven enterprise solutions startup, secured a $10M strategic investment from Lakeba Group.

• Theo AI, a litigation prediction platform, raised a $4.2M seed round led by NextView Ventures and Collide Capital.

Thought starters:

• Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder (All-In Live from Miami)

• AI Is Disrupting Commercial Shoots, But Actors May Get New Guardrails

Meme of the day:

Thanks for reading,

Eddie

Are we friends on LinkedIn and X? Let’s connect — DM me or hit the follow button.

P.S. If this was valuable, forward it to a friend. If you’re that smart friend, subscribe here.

P.P.S. Interested in reaching other ambitious readers like you? To become a sponsor, reply to this email.