Last month, OpenAI said that it is going to introduce ads to users of the free and Go tiers in ChatGPT. The company rolled out ads to U.S.-based users earlier this month amid criticism from rivals like Anthropic, which published a string of Super Bowl ads.

On the sidelines of the India AI summit, TechCrunch asked OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap about how the company is approaching ads. Lightcap said that the process is iterative and the company has to get user privacy and trust right.

“Well, this is going to be an iterative process for sure. This is something we are committed to getting right. What does that look like? It means obviously maintaining user trust at a very high level. It means getting privacy right,” Lightcap said.

He also noted that ads can add to the product experience of users if they are done right. He urged to give OpenAI a few months to see how the company fares in rolling out the product.

“It means really creating a delightful product experience. We think ads done right can be additive to a product experience. And so it’ll take iteration, it’ll take time, but we’re just starting out. So maybe give us a few months and see how it goes,” he said.

Lightcap didn’t specify if the company is thinking about rolling out ads beyond the U.S. market at the moment.

Earlier this month, Sam Altman hit back at Anthropic with a long post on X about the Super Bowl ads, calling the OpenAI rival “dishonest” and accusing them of making an expensive product that serves “rich people.”

“More importantly, we believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access, because we believe access creates agency. More Texans use ChatGPT for free than the total number of people who use Claude in the US, so we have a differently-shaped problem than they do,” Altman wrote.

Various outlets have reported that OpenAI is charging $60 for 1,000 impressions, an unusually high rate. Last month, Adweek noted that OpenAI is asking for $200,000 of minimum commitment from advertisers. Earlier this week, The Information reported that Shopify is allowing its merchants to advertise on ChatGPT through its Shop Campaigns ad network, joining early testers like Target, Williams Sonoma, and Adobe.

Google on Wednesday announced a series of updates to its Gemini AI-powered features on the Android operating system, the most notable being a new way to use the AI to handle multi-step tasks like ordering an Uber or food delivery. These automations join other Gemini improvements shipping today, including an expansion of scam detection for phone calls and Circle to Search updates that now let you identify all the items on your phone’s screen.

The automations, explains Google, allow users to essentially offload their to-do list to Gemini. In practice, however, the types of things that Gemini can manage are still limited.

The company says that the feature, which is in beta, will initially support select apps in the food, grocery, and rideshare categories.

It will also be limited to the Gemini app on certain devices, including the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S26 series. And it will initially be available only in the U.S. and Korea.

AI-powered automations could potentially go wrong, of course, so Google has added some protections. For starters, the automations can’t be kicked off without an explicit command from the device’s owner. As they run, you can watch their progress in real time and stop the task if it’s making a mistake or getting stuck. Google notes also that the automations take place in a secure, virtual window on your phone where they can only access limited apps, not the rest of the data on your device.

The feature ties into the growing trend of using AI to automate more tasks in users’ personal lives. ChatGPT, for instance, lets users create tasks that can be run on schedules or at specific times, as well as offering an agent that can complete a variety of computer-based tasks like navigating a calendar, generating a slideshow, or running code. Anthropic’s Cowork, meanwhile, brings the capabilities of its Claude AI to non-coding tasks, letting non-developers automate everyday file and task management. And, of course, an AI tool called OpenClaw recently went viral for its ability to manage everyday tasks like sending emails, managing calendars, checking into flights, and more.

Another Gemini update arriving now is the expansion of a Scam Detection feature for phone calls, which is becoming available on Samsung Galaxy S26 series devices in the U.S. (The feature is already offered on Pixel phones in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, and the U.K.) Google is also using its Gemini on-device model to detect scam texts in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. on Pixel 10 series devices, and soon on the Galaxy S26 series phones, as well.

Finally, Google says its Circle to Search feature, which lets you use gestures like scribbles and circling to initiate searches, can now search for everything you’re seeing on the phone screen, not just a single object. That means you can search every item of clothing and every accessory in an outfit you like, or learn more about a group of things and the related topic on the screen.

Google has been steadily releasing Gemini updates to its Android ecosystem at regular intervals through new operating system updates and updates targeted toward its flagship phone, the Google Pixel, via its frequent updates known as Pixel Drops. Meanwhile, Apple has been struggling to release a more comprehensive AI feature set, which is set to include an AI-powered Siri — a launch that was recently pushed back again to later in the year.

Waymo is bringing its robotaxis to Chicago and Charlotte as part of its push to continue scaling autonomous vehicles, the company said Wednesday.

Starting today, Waymo will begin manual mapping and early data collection to lay the groundwork for operations in those cities. Waymo usually enters a new city by first conducting months of manual driving and mapping to understand local road conditions, traffic patterns, and edge cases before gradually introducing autonomous testing and eventually fully driverless operations.

While Charlotte — with its suburban-style layout and mild weather — may be an easier use case, Chicago’s harsh winters, heavy traffic, and dense urban complexity would be more of a challenge for Waymo. Operating there successfully would strengthen Waymo’s case that its system is nationally scalable. It also gives Waymo another shot at a northern city after New York dropped a proposal that would have allowed commercial robotaxi pilots in parts of the state.

The news comes the same week Waymo began offering commercial driverless operations in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Orlando, bringing its total city count to 10.

Aside from Chicago and Charlotte, Waymo is also testing and planning to launch in Denver, London, and Washington, D.C., among other cities. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company earlier this month clinched $16 billion in funding to expand internationally.