Google has updated its privacy settings to explicitly save images, audio, and video generated through specific search tools for artificial intelligence training. The company introduced a new “Search Services History” option within the settings menu, which captures data from Google Lens, Search Live recordings, and Translate voice inputs. Users can opt out of this collection by disabling the “Save Media” feature, but the default configuration now retains these interactions. This policy shift formalises the storage of multimodal content previously handled under broader search history rules, ensuring that visual and auditory data contributed to queries are logged alongside text-based searches.
This development matters because it expands the scope of data available to train Google’s generative models beyond simple text queries. By including Lens images and live audio recordings, the company gains richer context to improve visual recognition and voice processing capabilities, though it raises questions about the granularity of user consent. The change underscores the trade-off between enhanced AI functionality and personal privacy, as users must now actively intervene to prevent their media interactions from being archived. It also highlights the increasing complexity of managing digital footprints in an era where search engines increasingly rely on non-textual data to power their services.
- Google now stores Lens images, Search Live audio, and Translate voice inputs under a new “Search Services History” setting.
- Users must manually disable the “Save Media” option to prevent these specific interactions from being saved for AI training.
- The update formalises the collection of multimodal data, expanding the training material available for Google’s generative models.
Stay ahead of AI. Get the most important stories delivered to your inbox — no spam, no noise.
