C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google TV started testing a new AI-powered News Brief feature with a few users earlier this year.
- The feature is now widely available on the Google TV Streamer and Chromecast with Google TV.
- You can enable it by navigating to the new Top News option in the Ambient mode settings.
Google TV started testing a new Gemini-powered feature earlier this year that offered users an overview of the day’s top news stories. At the time, the News Brief feature was only available for a small handful of users on the For You page. However, Google had revealed plans to add a News Brief widget to the Ambient mode’s on-screen hub. This Ambient mode widget is now starting to show up for more users.
9to5Google reports that the News Brief feature is finally getting a wider release on the Google TV Streamer and Chromecast with Google TV in the US. You can enable it by selecting the new Top news option in the Ambient mode settings, after which you should see a new Top News card in the top-left corner of the screen.
The Top News card shows the headline of a news piece curated by Gemini and how long ago it was published. You can cycle through the card for other stories or “Press OK to listen to your news brief.” The latter opens a new UI and reads out a summary. This summary appears underneath the headline on the news brief UI with a selection of related YouTube videos you can watch to learn more.
The News Brief feature is currently in beta and unavailable on third-party Google TV devices. Google notes that since it uses AI to curate stories and generate headlines and summaries, it’s not perfect and might make mistakes. The company adds that it could also include stories about “violent or potentially disturbing events,” so you should probably keep it off if you have young kids.
Have you received the new News Brief feature on your Google TV Streamer or Chromecast with Google TV? Do you find it helpful, or do you prefer catching up on the latest news on your phone? Let us know in the comments.
