Google: news, timeline and key numbers

Google was named in an investigation published on 2026-10-12 by KFF Health News. It found that Trump administration health officials had spent over a year working privately with technology companies in an unannounced Slack chat room. The companies included Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple and Google. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services used the closed forum to shape federal policy on artificial intelligence in healthcare. The reporting drew on thousands of internal messages, meeting transcripts and recordings. It said industry leaders gained direct access to top regulators.

On 2026-10-17, Anthropic's researchers reported that the company was hiring a shrinking share of junior technical staff. AI agents were taking on a growing share of its work.

On 2026-10-18, reports said websites were increasingly blocking AI agents. These are autonomous programs that AI companies say can browse the web for users. They are meant to book dinner reservations, clear inboxes or buy shoes. The blocks challenge the idea that software can act for a person across the open web.

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