The US Patent and Trademark Office has refused one of Tesla's initial attempts to trademark the term "Robotaxi" because it believes the name is generic and already in use by other companies, according to a filing spotted by TechCrunch. Tesla was hoping to trademark the term in connection to its planned self-driving car service, but now it'll have to reply with more evidence to change the office's mind. The main issue outlined in the USPTO decision is that "Robotaxi" is "merely descriptive," as in its an already commonly used term. A robotaxi typically refers to the self-driving cars used in services like Waymo. As long as Silicon Valley has believed money could be made selling autonomous vehicles (and the rides you can take in them), the term has been in use.

Diminished tech privacy appears to be another ripple effect from Trump 2.0. The Information reported on Wednesday that Meta has changed its tune on facial recognition. After considering but ultimately bailing on the technology for the first version of its smart glasses, the company is now actively working on wearables that can identify nearby faces. Remember when being a "Glasshole" was considered a faux pas? According to The Information, Meta has recently discussed adding software to its smart glasses that scans bystanders' faces and identifies people by name.

Google is once again crossing the great divide between rival tech giants, at least with artificial intelligence. The company has launched a dedicated iPad app for its Gemini AI assistant. In addition to natively running on Apple hardware, Gemini's iPad app can take advantage of the tablet's split view, so that the AI assistant is open on the screen at the same time as another program for easier use. The app is available today from the App Store in all countries where Gemini is currently available. Gemini has been a huge focus for Google's recent announcements as it works to put its service in front of more and more potential users. The company recently introduced a program for children to explore the AI assistant and it opened the Deep Research capability to all Gemini users.

AI services like Perplexity or OpenAI's SearchGPT could be search engine options in a future version of Safari, Bloomberg reports. The tentative plans were shared by Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, while on the stand for Google's ongoing search antitrust case. Cue was called to testify because of the deal Google and Apple have to keep Google Search as the default search engine on the iPhone. Cue claims Apple has discussed a possible Safari-integration with Perplexity, but didn't share any definitive plans during his testimony. It's clear that he believes AI assistants will inevitably supplant traditional search engines, though.

Netflix is giving its TV user interface a major overhaul. Alongside a fresh, cleaner look, you'll see recommendations that adapt to your activity as Netflix tries to better gauge what you might be in the mood to watch. The company plans to roll out the update over the coming weeks and months. It seems that the aim here, as has long been a goal for Netflix, is to help you find something you want to watch faster. That way, you won't spend an eternity scrolling through the various options while struggling to figure out what to start streaming.

Amazon has deployed over 750,000 robots to its fulfillment centers over the last decade or so, but now there's a new, shall we say, more sensitive addition. The company has announced Vulcan, its first robot with a sense of touch. It's one in a series of new robots introduced today at Amazon's Delivering the Future event in Germany. Vulcan uses force feedback sensors to monitor how much it's pushing or holding on to an object and, ideally, not damage it. "In the past, when industrial robots have unexpected contact, they either emergency stop or smash through that contact. They often don't even know they have hit something because they cannot sense it."

Minecraft is no longer (officially) available on virtual and mixed reality platforms. The change was confirmed in today's patch notes for the game's Bedrock edition following an announcement from developer Mojang in October. Those fall patch notes suggested that the platforms would be removed in March, so players who favored VR wound up getting a few extra weeks to fully immerse themselves in their blocky worlds. Removing entire platforms isn't a choice game devs make lightly. Especially when Minecraft's player base still numbers in the hundreds of millions at any given time, it seems unlikely that Mojang would take away virtual and mixed reality unless it wouldn't cause a serious disruption for its many fans.

In about two weeks, Google's annual developer conference will kick off on May 20. The event is probably the most important on the company's calendar, offering a glimpse at everything it has been working on over the past year. Judging from rumors and information Google has trickled out, I/O 2025 should be one of the more exciting tech keynotes in recent memory. Plus, for the first time, Google has spun out a dedicated Android showcase planned a whole week earlier. If you want to know what to expect from the company later this month, read on.

Zoox, the Amazon-owned robotaxi company, announced a voluntary software recall for its vehicles. The company had paused its driverless vehicle operations for a review following an incident last month where a Zoox car and a passenger car collided in Las Vegas. According to the report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the crash did not cause any injuries. CNBC reports that Zoox has resumed usual operations following the software update. "After analysis and rigorous testing, Zoox identified the root cause," the company said in a blog post today.

OpenAI has abandoned its controversial restructuring plan. In a dramatic reversal, the company said Monday it would no longer try to separate control of its for-profit arm from the non-profit board that currently oversees operations. "We made the decision for the nonprofit to retain control of OpenAI after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California," said Bret Taylor, the chairman of OpenAI. OpenAI had originally argued its existing structure would not allow its nonprofit to "easily do more than control the for-profit." It also said it needed more money, a mere two months after securing 6.6 billion in new investment.