Anish Kattukaran, head of Google Home, confirmed on social media on May 3 that Gemini for Home upgrades will continue to accelerate across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region this week, building on significant expansions over the past two weeks. This announcement signals a notable acceleration in Google’s global rollout of its AI-powered smart home assistant.

Kattukaran stated that Google is clearing the early access queue daily, with users who opt in through the Home app being bumped to the top of the list. The expanded rollout covers 16 markets, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.

Gemini for Home is Google’s smart home AI assistant upgrade program that began rolling out in 2024, designed to integrate the capabilities of Google’s Gemini large language model into the Google Home ecosystem. Users can interact with a smarter, more contextually aware assistant through voice commands, enabling more complex smart home control, information queries, and daily task management.

Google has been continuously optimizing Gemini for Home’s performance over recent months, with the latest updates focusing on improved response speed and accuracy. At the same time, Google is expanding language support, allowing more non-English speakers to interact with Gemini naturally in their native languages.

Notably, Google has also been exploring Gemini integration with third-party smart speakers. Early product listings suggest that the upcoming Google Home Speaker will be the first new smart speaker device equipped with Gemini, indicating that Google is building a more open smart home AI ecosystem.

For users in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, this large-scale rollout means they will soon have access to the same AI-driven smart home features available in the United States, further narrowing the technology gap between markets.

Source: 9to5Google

Lai said the visit followed “days of careful arrangements by the diplomatic and national security teams,” without providing details on how he reached the country. China described the visit as a “stowaway-style escape farce.” Beijing has long viewed Taiwan as part of its territory with no right to conduct state-to-state relations.

Images showed Lai being welcomed by Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini as he walked past a guard of honour. Taiwan’s presidential office confirmed that Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung and National Security Council Adviser Alex Huang were also part of the delegation.

Lai’s visit was not announced in advance by either government. The trip had originally been scheduled for April 22-26 to mark the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession to the throne. It was suspended after Taiwan said Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar had unilaterally revoked flight permits for Lai’s aircraft, citing Chinese pressure.

On social media, Lai wrote: “Taiwan will never be deterred by external pressures. Our resolve and commitment are underpinned by the understanding that Taiwan will continue to engage with the world — no matter the challenges faced.” He praised Eswatini for “standing firm against various diplomatic and economic pressure, speaking out for Taiwan’s international place through concrete actions.”

Lai’s schedule in Eswatini includes bilateral talks with King Mswati III and signing a customs agreement.

China’s foreign ministry in Beijing said Lai had become “an international laughing stock.” A spokesperson stated: “No matter how the Democratic Progressive Party authorities collude with external forces or in what form they ‘buy the loyalty of others,’ it is all a futile effort that cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China.” Beijing also urged Eswatini to “see clearly the general trend of history” and not “pull chestnuts out of the fire for a handful of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists.”

In a related development, China announced on Friday that it was scrapping tariffs for all African countries — except Eswatini — underscoring Beijing’s displeasure at the kingdom’s continued diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Eswatini is one of just 12 small states worldwide that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Sources: BBC News