I might have chosen ChatGPT as my default chatbot for this early phase of the AI computing era, but I also keep an eye on the many other options available to users right now. Google’s Gemini is definitely a solid choice, especially after the recent Gemini 2.5 Pro upgrades. Google also has a few big advantages over OpenAI, including its large software ecosystem, the Android OS, and its Pixel hardware.
I’m not using any of that, mainly because I’ve been a longtime iPhone user and am still waiting for Apple Intelligence to eventually replace ChatGPT.
But it doesn’t matter which AI software I use in the future to get things done. No matter what, I’ll always appreciate AI from Google that focuses on one important task in particular. I’m talking about Gemini AI being used to keep people safe from online scams, no matter what devices they’re on.
Google recently explained how it’s using AI to tackle new threats, revealing that Gemini has helped it flag more scams than ever across Google Search, Chrome, and Android.
Google says it’s been using AI advancements for over a decade to protect users, but it’s now spotlighting new tech that allows it to detect and block threats online more effectively than ever.
According to Google, AI helps Search block “hundreds of millions of scammy results every day.” Thanks to the new improvements, it’s catching 20 times more scammy pages than before.
This next generation of AI tools lets Google analyze “vast quantities of text on the web” and draw connections between seemingly harmless sites to catch coordinated scams early:
For example, we’ve observed a significant increase in bad actors on the web impersonating airline customer service providers and scamming people in need of help. We’ve already reduced these scams by more than 80% in Search, greatly reducing the risk that you call a scammy phone number.
Similarly, Google’s AI has detected more pages pretending to be official websites, such as visa services or other government agencies. Protections rolled out last year helped cut down these impersonation scams by over 70%.
The AI works across the web, scanning scammy websites in multiple languages to identify potential threats.
The immediate benefit is that these malicious sites are flagged and removed from Google Search results.
Google has already launched an Enhanced Protection mode for Safe Browsing in Chrome, and it’s now expanding Gemini Nano protection to desktop. Gemini Nano will run on-device to provide real-time alerts for online threats. Google says it can spot scams it hasn’t encountered before, quietly working in the background to keep you safe.
Google also uses Gemini Nano to fight remote tech support scams, calling them one of “the biggest online threats facing users today.” Over time, this protection will cover more scam types and expand to Android.
For Android users browsing the web in Chrome, Google is introducing a feature that warns about potentially scammy notifications from websites. The Chrome app will use on-device machine learning to detect these threats and let users unsubscribe from suspicious notifications.
Google also has AI-based protections in place for the Google Messages and Phone apps on Android, with a Scam Detection feature that identifies scam calls and texts.
