NEW YORK: In response to growing concerns about excessive screen time affecting children’s academic performance, tech giant Google has introduced a new feature called ‘School Time’ to help parents manage their children’s device usage. This feature is part of Google’s Family Link parental controls app and aims to minimize distractions during school hours.
The ‘School Time’ feature allows parents to customize their child’s device by setting it to a dedicated home screen with limited functionality during school hours. This restriction is intended to help children focus on their academic activities without the temptation of non-educational apps and games.
Parents can schedule specific times when this restricted mode is active and choose which apps remain accessible during these periods. Furthermore, parents can enable calls or texts from designated contacts, ensuring that essential communication remains uninterrupted.
Initially, the ‘School Time’ feature is available on Fitbit Ace LTE smartwatches and will be gradually extended to select Android phones, tablets, and Samsung Galaxy Watches over the next year.
Meanwhile, Character.AI, a startup specializing in large language model technology, announced on Friday that it has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Alphabet’s Google. This deal grants Google access to Character.AI’s advanced chatbot technology.
As part of the agreement, Character.AI co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, who previously worked at Google, will rejoin the company. The deal reflects a broader trend in the tech industry where major players like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are investing heavily in AI technologies and acquiring talent from startups. Microsoft recently spent $650 million to acquire AI talent from startup Inflection, while Amazon also recruited co-founders and staff from Adept.
Character.AI, which had previously raised $193 million in venture capital from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, will receive additional funding from Google as part of this new deal. Dominic Perella, Character.AI’s general counsel, will step in as the interim CEO, effective immediately. The acquisition is expected to enhance Google’s AI research capabilities, with Shazeer joining Google DeepMind’s research team.
