Google Messages will use AI to check texts from strangers for scams
Google is adding an optional setting to Google Messages on Android. It uses AI to judge what an unknown sender wants and to check links before you open them.
The Verge reports that Google is adding a new setting to Google Messages. When a stranger texts you, Google's Gemini AI checks what the sender wants. This check runs online, not on your phone. Google says scammers often hide their goals in slow chats.
Google says your messages stay encrypted during the check. It says they are handled in a secure space that no one else can open, even Google. A smaller Gemini AI on your phone also checks links from unknown senders before you open them.
Android will also block apps from turning on call forwarding, and it will alert you if one tries. Scam alerts for chat notifications began on Pixel phones last year. They are now coming to Motorola, Oppo, OnePlus, Xiaomi and other phones.
From the sourceRead the original at The Verge AI →Android users can turn on enhanced protection once it reaches their phone. It is optional. Google says the chat-notification scam alerts will reach hundreds of millions more users later this year.
The facts
- Google is rolling out an opt-in "enhanced protection" setting in Google Messages in the coming weeks, using cloud-based Gemini AI models to assess the intentions of unrecognized senders.
- Google says user data is encrypted during the AI analysis and processed in a secure dedicated space that Google and anyone else besides the user can't access.
- The mode also uses on-device Gemini Nano AI to inspect real-time web signals in unfamiliar links before they are opened, to decide if the links are malicious.
- Android will block apps from enabling call forwarding and notify the user when someone tries to do so.
- Android will automatically hide sensitive information while screen-sharing in Chrome and Android WebView.
- Scam detection for chat notifications, introduced on Pixel phones last year, is expanding to devices from Honor, Motorola, Oppo, OnePlus, Realme, Tecno, Vivo, Xiaomi and more; Google says it will reach hundreds of millions of additional users later this year.
Sources
- The Verge AI: Android is using AI to suss out scammers in Google Messages
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