Google recently took the drastic measure of suspending Chinese e-commerce app Pinduoduo from its app store due to security concerns. Multiple apps developed by the same company were also banned. The ban was put in place after malicious software was found in off-play versions of the app, which are not available on Google’s store but can be downloaded as APKs.
Google is sending out notifications to those who may have downloaded the apps, urging them to delete them from their devices. A spokesperson for Pinduoduo stated that the suspension was due to the app not following Google’s policies, but further details were not shared. Additionally, Google Play has suspended multiple other apps.
In other news, Google has released its own generative artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, which is available to users in the US and UK. The chatbot is designed to improve its own systems and compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It is expected to launch in other regions and languages in the future.
