HeyWhatsNew: Google I/O 2025 and Bitcoin Peaks
Hey there, Heyuppers, welcome to a new week of all things tech and trending. Let’s take a look at everything in the week beginning 19/05/2025.
Google Unveils ‘Stitch’: AI Tool That Turns Ideas into App Designs in Seconds
At Google I/O 2025, Google introduced ‘Stitch’, a powerful new AI tool designed to simplify and speed up the app design and development process. With Stitch, users can instantly generate UI designs and frontend code just by describing what they want in natural language or uploading image prompts. Whether you're a pro developer or just getting started, Stitch makes it easy to prototype, tweak themes, adjust layouts, and export your designs to Figma or straight into HTML/CSS for further editing. Powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro or Flash models, Stitch helps creators move from concept to code in record time. Google calls it a game-changer for quickly and conversationally turning design thinking into real, working interfaces.
NordVPN Rolls Out Post-Quantum Encryption to All Apps for Future-Proof Security
NordVPN has officially launched post-quantum encryption (PQE) across all its platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Android TV, and tvOS, following a successful trial on Linux in 2024. This major upgrade integrates quantum-resistant algorithms into NordLynx, NordVPN’s lightning-fast VPN protocol built on WireGuard, and aligns with the latest NIST cryptographic standards. By enabling PQE, users can safeguard their data against potential future threats posed by quantum computing. The rollout was made seamless thanks to extensive performance testing on Linux, which showed no compromise in speed or connection quality. Users can activate PQE easily via a toggle in the app’s settings, ensuring added security with just one click. As CTO Marijus Briedis explains, it’s a forward-thinking move designed to protect customer privacy today, and in the quantum-powered future.
Bitcoin Hits Record High Amid Renewed Optimism and Institutional Tailwinds
Bitcoin has soared to a new all-time high, climbing to $109,760.08 and marking a more than 50% gain since April’s lows. The rally comes as investor confidence returns, fueled by easing U.S.-China trade tensions and a Moody’s downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt that’s nudging investors toward alternative assets. Institutional momentum is also in play, with JPMorgan allowing clients to buy bitcoin and Coinbase joining the S&P 500.
According to Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev, bitcoin has now entered "blue sky territory" with strong upside potential, even setting sights on a $150,000 target for 2025. For now, bitcoin is riding high on a mix of bullish sentiment, a weak dollar, and growing mainstream adoption.
Google’s Next Big Idea? Letting AI Do All the Googling for You
At Google I/O 2025, the tech giant unveiled its ambitious plan to reinvent how we search, with AI doing the heavy lifting. The new AI Mode in Google Search turns your queries into smart, conversational experiences. Instead of making you sift through blue links, AI Mode breaks your question into smaller parts, runs dozens of searches behind the scenes, and delivers a curated, all-in-one answer. Planning a trip? Just ask, and AI Mode will give you restaurant picks, music venues, hidden gems, and even a custom map. This is powered by Google’s Gemini AI and a system called “query fanout,” which taps into Google’s rich real-time data like Maps and the Shopping Graph to generate fast, comprehensive results.
Google’s not stopping at smarter search. Enter Project Mariner, a new AI agent that can complete online tasks for you, like finding concert tickets or apartment hunting. It can juggle up to 10 tasks at once and even learn how to repeat tasks you teach it. Project Mariner is set to power other tools too, like a new Agent Mode in the Gemini app and upcoming AI Mode features that let you buy tickets or book experiences right from the results page. With these updates, Google is turning search into action, where discovery doesn’t just start with a question but ends with the task already done for you.
Klarna’s CEO Just Let His AI Clone Deliver the Company’s Earnings Report
Klarna is embracing its AI ambitions, literally. When the company unveiled its latest earnings update, it wasn’t CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski who delivered the highlights, but an AI-generated avatar of him. The virtual Siemiatkowski appeared in a YouTube video looking nearly identical to the real one, down to the signature brown jacket, though eagle-eyed viewers noticed subtle giveaways like minimal blinking and slightly off voice syncing. Klarna, preparing for its IPO, used the moment to highlight how AI has fueled its growth, boasting 100 million users and a fourth straight profitable quarter, partly by trimming its workforce by about 40% and increasing revenue per employee to nearly $1 million.
The stunt plays into a growing (and slightly tongue-in-cheek) conversation about AI replacing even top executive roles. Klarna isn’t the first to joke about AI CEOs; Artisan, another AI startup, famously “fired” its CEO in an April Fool’s gag. But the idea isn’t entirely fantasy. Some researchers have suggested AI could outperform human CEOs in strategic decision-making, though they falter during unpredictable “black swan” events like pandemics. But for now, Klarna’s AI CEO is just a spokesperson.
That’s all for this week. Tune in again next week for more tech news that’s making waves.
