Google is a big tech firm famed for its April Fools Day tricks. On the day of annual hoaxes and pranks 20 years ago, company founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin introduced Gmail, an innovative service that left many doubting its legitimacy that time.

Google launched Gmail, a free email servicem with 1 GB of storage per account, on April Fool's Day 2004. Gmail's storage capacity seemed absurd when competitors provided gigabytes, but it marked a revolution in webmail services.

Former Google executive Marissa Mayer, who designed Gmail, remembered the pitch emphasizing storage, search, and speed. The goal was to provide adequate email capacity and integrate Google's sophisticated search capabilities for easy personal data navigation, according to ABC News.

Gmail Revolutionized The Internet

Gmail was so shocking that The Associated Press got calls and emails doubting its veracity. A display at Google's Mountain View headquarters dissuaded skeptics.

Larry Page demonstrated Gmail's elegant design and lightning-fast performance in a modest office on the Googleplex campus. Page joked about the lack of a delete button, confident in the service's storage and search capabilities.

Gmail has 1.8 billion active users and has been a digital staple since its founding. Gmail's significance goes beyond its 1-gigabyte storage, which appears small by today's standards.

Gmail's popularity led Google to launch Google Maps, Google Docs, YouTube, Chrome, and Android. Additionally, Gmail's data-scanning capabilities suggested Google's shift toward targeted advertising.
Even though it became popular, Gmail was initially exclusive due to limited processing resources. A booming underground market sold Gmail invitations for high prices on eBay due to their rarity.

Gmail became public in 2007, a major milestone in its development. However, the firm continued its April Fools Day tradition by creating "Gmail Paper," a service that prints email archives on unusual materials.

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(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The new Google logo is displayed at the Google headquarters on September 2, 2015 in Mountain View, California. 

Google's Focus Today:  AI

As Google continues to innovate, its premier artificial intelligence research center DeepMind has recently introduced SAFE, a revolutionary technique for fact-checking LLM outputs like ChatGPT, as reported by TechTimes.

SAFE addresses LLM-generated content accuracy issues. LLMs often face criticism for their imprecision, despite their impressive text production and problem-solving skills.

DeepMind researchers found that manual verification of LLM-generated material reduces its dependability and usefulness.

The Search-Augmented Factuality Evaluator (SAFE) fact-checks in a novel way. It runs LLMs on answers and validates them with search engine results. This strategy resembles how search engine users fact-check content.

SAFE fact-checked 16,000 LLM statements in rigorous DeepMind testing. SAFE matched human fact-checkers 72% of the time. SAFE outperformed human assessors in 76% of situations.

By publishing SAFE code on GitHub, DeepMind is transparent. We encourage the AI community to utilize the system's fact-checking capabilities.

The team stated, "SAFE employs a methodology that uses an LLM to break down a long-form response into individual facts and evaluates the accuracy of each fact through a multi-step reasoning process, which includes querying Google Search and assessing the alignment of search results with the provided facts."

SAFE significantly improves LLM-generated content dependability and credibility, enabling more accurate and trustworthy AI-driven interactions in different sectors.

This development comes as some have accused Meta and Google of suppressing reproductive health ads and spreading misinformation. A recent MSI Reproductive Choices and Center for Countering Digital Hate investigation accused Meta and Google of misbehavior in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The report accused major digital companies of suppressing reproductive health information by reducing local abortion provider ads and spreading disinformation. Existing Meta laws preclude MSI from distributing abortion-related advertising content.

Local reports show broader sexual and reproductive health material suppression. MSI had issues in Nepal and Vietnam when Meta purportedly withdrew advertisements for cervical cancer tests, IUDs, and contraceptive medicines.

Meta has enforced a "blanket advertising ban" in several countries without explanation. Google rejected advertising with the term "pregnancy options," according to Ghana's MSI team. 

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