Big Moves in AI and Policy This Week
Google’s busy. There’s a new virtual try-on tool and AI effects across Search, Shopping, and YouTube Shorts. You can remix photos and make quick videos—all clearly marked as AI. Meanwhile, the U.S. government shifted priorities with a new AI Action Plan, focusing on infrastructure over risk. In legal tech, LegalOn just raised $50 million and partnered with OpenAI. Capital is flowing, but not everyone’s happy; Google’s stock dipped after big AI spending.
👋 Catch up on the latest post …
In the Spotlight 🔦
Google Unveils AI Tool to Virtually Try On Clothes
Category: Applications
🛍️ Google launched an AI-powered virtual try-on feature, allowing users to upload photos and see themselves wearing clothes across Search, Shopping, and Google Images.
📱 The feature is available in the U.S. and uses generative AI to create personalized try-on experiences, expanding beyond previous model-based virtual try-ons.
💡 Google also introduced enhanced price alerts and teased upcoming generative AI tools for outfit and room design inspiration using its Shopping Graph.
Google Photos Introduces AI Tools to Remix Photos and Create Videos
Category: Applications
📸 Google Photos introduces AI features to 'remix' photos in styles like anime, comics, sketches, and 3D animations.
🎥 Users can now turn photos into six-second videos using the Veo 2 model, with options for 'Subtle movements' or 'I'm feeling lucky.'
🔒 All AI-generated outputs include invisible SynthID watermarks and visible marks to identify them as AI-created.
YouTube Shorts Introduces AI Image-to-Video Tool and New AI Effects
Category: Applications
🖼️ YouTube Shorts is launching an image-to-video AI tool that turns photos into six-second videos, rolling out first in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
🎨 New AI-powered effects allow creators to animate doodles and selfies, accessible via the Shorts camera's 'AI' effects section.
🔒 The features use Google’s Veo 2 AI model and include SynthID watermarks and labels to indicate AI-generated content.
Trump’s AI Plan Prioritizes Growth Over Safeguards to Compete With China
Category: Policy & Geopolitics
🚀 The Trump administration's AI Action Plan prioritizes rapid AI infrastructure growth and deregulation to compete with China, downplaying previous risk mitigation efforts.
🏗️ The plan accelerates building data centers and AI infrastructure, streamlining permits and reducing environmental regulations, even on federal lands and during critical energy periods.
🛡️ National security is emphasized, with efforts to exclude Chinese technology, increase intelligence on foreign AI, and integrate AI into defense and intelligence operations.
Google AI Overviews Reach 2 Billion Monthly Users; AI Mode Hits 100 Million in US, India
Category: Business & Industry Trends
🌍 Google’s AI Overviews feature now reaches 2 billion monthly users across 200 countries, up from 1.5 billion in May 2025.
📱 AI Mode, offering AI chat search, has surpassed 100 million monthly active users in the US and India, with further expansion planned.
💸 Despite strong AI adoption, Google’s increased capital expenditure for AI development led to a negative reaction from investors and a drop in stock price.
Sundar Pichai Expresses Excitement Over Google Cloud's Partnership With OpenAI
Category: Business & Industry Trends
🤝 Google Cloud has partnered with OpenAI to provide cloud computing resources for training and serving AI models, despite OpenAI being a major competitor.
💸 Google Cloud revenue rose to $13.6 billion in Q2 2025, with significant growth attributed to AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and others using its infrastructure.
🔋 OpenAI is expanding cloud partnerships beyond Microsoft due to GPU constraints, making Google Cloud a critical supplier for its AI model development.
Trump's 'Anti-Woke AI' Order May Change How US Tech Firms Train AI Models
Category: Policy & Geopolitics
📝 Trump signed an executive order banning 'woke AI' and mandating 'ideological neutrality' for AI models used in U.S. government contracts.
⚖️ The order targets AI outputs related to DEI, race, gender, and other social topics, potentially pressuring developers to align with administration rhetoric.
🇺🇸 The policy shift prioritizes AI infrastructure and national security, moving away from societal risk, and may influence how major U.S. tech companies train their models.
LegalOn Secures $50M From SoftBank to Enhance Legal Workflows With AI
Category: Business & Industry Trends
💼 LegalOn raised $50 million in Series C funding to expand its AI-powered legal workflow tools, led by Goldman Sachs and joined by several new and existing investors.
🤖 LegalOn's AI contract review software is used by 7,000 organizations, claims to cut review times by up to 85%, and leads the Japanese market with 25% public company adoption.
🔗 LegalOn formed a technical partnership with OpenAI, gaining early access to advanced language models to enhance its AI legal agent products.
This content is curated and compiled autonomously using a Python-driven AI system I wrote. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, I welcome your feedback on any discrepancies you may notice.