Google Play Gets a Gemini Sidekick for Gaming - DTNS 5110

Nvidia is set to invest $100 billion in OpenAI as it works toward a gigawatt of new infrastructure per week, and GitHub is rolling out new security controls for NPM.

Starring Jason Howell and Tom Merritt.

JASON: This is the Daily Tech News for Tuesday, September 23, 2025. We tell you what you need to know, follow up on the context of those stories and help each other understand.

TOM: Today, the Google Play store is giving gamers an AI sidekick, and Nvidia is set to invest more than $100 billion in OpenAI.

I’m Jason Howell,

I’m Tom Merritt.

JASON: Let’s start with what you need to know with the big story.

BIG STORY

 Google Play is getting more personalized
Play Games Sidekick is Gemini Live for Android games
TCL’s Google TVs with an mmWave presence sensor are out now

JASON: Google Play is introducing a revamped app experience on Android to improve discovery. And yes, AI is involved.

First, the update includes a new "You" tab that's designed to be a centralized personal hub of content, user stats, rewards, subscriptions, and app updates. The tab will give recommendations for games, audiobooks, books, and podcasts. But that's not very AI, is it?

What IS AI is a new Gemini Live overlay that users can tap into for several game-related functions. The Play Games Sidekick can be dragged out to access in-game and works with supported games at first to give players an in-game chatbot assistant that is contextually aware, offering tips and answers to players' questions about the game itself. There are also one-tap features like screenshots, recording, streaming, and Do Not Disturb.

Sidekick is set to debut this Fall. Along with this is the announcement of Google's Level Up program to get developers on board, integrating support for the new features into their own games. The staged support guideline includes adding support for the Play Games Sidekick by July 2026, and eventually also Cloud Save and Seamless restore support by the end of next year.

While we're talking about Gemini, we should mention that yesterday was the launch of TCL's QM9K series QD-Mini LED TVs, the first Google TVs to integrate Gemini AI into the set. This means that users can have conversations with their TV sets in a less restricted way when compared to the Assistant integration that came before it. Expect Gemini to come to other 2025 TCL TVs as well as devices by Hisense, Walmart's Onn brand, and of course the Google TV Streamer set-top box.

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JASON: There’s more we need to know today, let’s get to the briefs.

BRIEFS

 Nvidia to Invest Up to $100 Billion in OpenAI - WSJ
Altman, Huang negotiations that sealed $100 billion OpenAI-Nvidia deal
Abundant Intelligence - Sam Altman
Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI data center buildout
OpenAI and NVIDIA announce strategic partnership to deploy 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems | OpenAI
Nvidia Says All Customers Will Be ‘Priority’ Despite OpenAI Deal - Bloomberg

TOM: After sinking $5 billion into Intel last week, Nvidia announced its intentions to invest $100 billion in OpenAI. And along with that investment, OpenAI will deploy approximately 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems - or 4 million to 5 million GPUs, in data centers for training new models. Essentially, Nvidia will do about 10 rounds of investment, $10 billion at a time, with the cash from each round being used to pay for Nvidia equipment to build out more capacity. The first phase will come online in the second half of 2026, using Nvidia's forthcoming Vera Rubin tech. These builds will be part of the Stargate project in cooperation with Softbank.

OpenAI also has a $300 billion deal with Oracle for cloud services, along with its existing deal with Microsoft for cloud.

Some suspect OpenAI has a long-term plan to offer cloud services itself. In a post on Tuesday, Altman wrote, "Our vision is simple: we want to create a factory that can produce a gigawatt of new AI infrastructure every week. The execution of this will be extremely difficult; it will take us years to get to this milestone.”

Secret Service Thwarts Plot to Take Out Cell Service Near UN
JASON: US Secret Service agents thwarted a major telecom threat in New York City by dismantling a hidden network of more than 300 SIM card servers and 100,000 SIM cards believed to be targeting senior US officials. Networks like this can be used to send anonymous threats, disable cell towers, or overwhelm the communications infrastructure at large. All of this occurred as world leaders gathered in the city for the UN General Assembly. The Secret Service did not name specific targets or the foreign nations that are believed to be involved in the scheme, though initial analysis indicated the involvement of one country and cartel members known to US law enforcement. Special agent Matt McCool said the seizure was the largest operation of its kind the agency had undertaken.

GitHub tightens npm security with mandatory 2FA, access tokens
TOM: GitHub is rolling out new security controls for NPM, the default package manager for the JavaScript runtime environment Node.js, to combat recent supply-chain attacks that have compromised thousands of developer accounts and private repositories. Mandatory two-factor authentication for local publishing, granular access tokens with shorter 7-day life cycles, and the phase-out of older authentication protocols are among the changes rolled out by GitHub. The announcement stresses that developers must proactively adopt the new measures and that security of the ecosystem is a collective responsibility. BleepingComputer notes that Ruby Central also announced tighter governance of the RubyGems package manager to improve its supply-chain protections.

WhatsApp adds built-in text translations on iPhone and Android
JASON: WhatsApp is launching a built-in translation feature for iPhone and Android users that allows messages to be translated into a predetermined language during one-on-one chats, groups, and Channel updates. Users long-press a message, tap "Translate", and select their desired language to activate the feature. Android gets support for 6 languages, while iPhone users get over 19 languages at launch. The new feature is rolling out gradually, and more language support is planned for future updates.

Microsoft Quietly Launches Windows AI Lab to Test Experimental AI Features
TOM: Microsoft has launched the Windows AI Lab program in Windows 11, a pilot that's designed to test the features with Insiders ahead of a broader rollout to users. The program gives select users access to experimental AI features inside apps, starting with Microsoft Paint. It's unclear what features will appear within Paint at this stage, but Microsoft is prompting for access within the Paint app itself.

Meta to launch national super PAC against AI regulation
JASON: Meta is launching the American Technology Excellence Project, a national super PAC dedicated to opposing strict AI regulations. Managed by Republican operative Brian Baker and supported by Democratic consulting firm Hilltop Public Solutions, the initiative aims to elect pro-AI candidates from both parties at the state level. Meta has already invested "tens of millions" into the effort. No word yet on the size of the PAC, nor which state policies and elections will be targeted.

PROMO

TOM: Join in the conversation in our Discord which you can join by linking to a Patreon account at patreon.com/dtns

HELPING EACH OTHER UNDERSTAND

JASON: We end every episode of DTNS with some shared wisdom. Today Tim speaks up in defense of ads on your fridge.

TOM: Tim commented on Patreon
Not sure I fully agree with Rob on his example about ads on the fridge. As long as it's a silent ad, I'd welcome my fridge telling me "hey, you're out of this item, and it's on sale right now at this store by you." That'd be the most useful ad I'd ever encountered if it could do that. And I could still choose to just not look at, as opposed to ads in TV/streaming shows, or mid-sentence ads in a lot of podcasts (NOT calling out DTNS there, since I've always been a Patron!)

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JASON: Thanks to Tim for contributing to today’s show. And thank YOU for being along for Daily Tech News Show. You can keep us in business by becoming a patron, atPatreon.com/dtns