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2026-10-04 12:25:38 UTC

All hail electrification. But let’s talk about the hard part.
If one form of energy becomes the cheapest, most secure, and cleanest, you’d probably adjust your economy to use more of it, right?
That’s one of the ideas underpinning [a report][1] the International Energy Agency issued last week about the global move toward electrification. Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, discussed some of the concepts from the report the following day at the United Nations.
“Many, many years in the energy world, we had three choices in front of us. Shall I choose the most secure energy option? Shall I choose the most economic energy option? Or shall I choose the cleanest energy option?” [he asked][2]. “We have to make choices, we have to make trade-offs but when we look at the world today, for the first time in years, all of these three objectives are getting aligned.”
[Read full article][3]
[Comments][4]
[1]: https://www.iea.org/reports/electrification
[2]: https://transcripts.un.org/en/asset/k1z/k1zg4qsbxi
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/10/all-hail-electrification-but-lets-talk-about-the-hard-part/
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/10/all-hail-electrification-but-lets-talk-about-the-hard-part/#comments
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/10/all-hail-electrification-but-lets-talk-about-the-hard-part/

2026-10-01 14:45:23 UTC

Google's early attempt to pay websites for AI answers is struggling
Google's [shift to AI-powered search][1] has upended the way the world's largest search engine generates web traffic, rankling large and small publishers alike. In recent months, the company has experimented with paying publishers when their content appears in AI answers, but a new report claims the payouts in this pilot program are miniscule. That has publishers in the program, as well as those watching from the sidelines, feeling skeptical.
According to [The Information][2], Google has admitted about 100 publishers to the AI contribution pilot. The pitch is that websites can get payments from Google when their content materially contributes to Gemini-powered search results like an AI Overview. Google has long resisted the idea of direct payments to publishers, arguing that websites get traffic in exchange for allowing Google bots to scrape their content for use in search and knowledge graph tools. In the age of AI, that relationship is breaking down, hence the AI pilot.
So far, publishers aren't getting much for their trouble. The Information heard from several small and mid-sized publishers in the program that Google's AI payments are minuscule, equaling roughly one-tenth of one percent of their advertising revenue. These payments have been so disappointing that several larger publishers have reportedly declined to participate in the program. These publishers hope that by refusing to join the pilot, they can force Google to offer a more generous deal.
[Read full article][3]
[Comments][4]
[1]: https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/05/buckle-up-google-is-set-to-remake-search-with-agentic-ai-in-2026/
[2]: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-paying-100-digital-publishers-ai-overviews
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/09/google-is-paying-100-websites-for-contributions-to-ai-overviews-but-the-amounts-are-tiny/
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/09/google-is-paying-100-websites-for-contributions-to-ai-overviews-but-the-amounts-are-tiny/#comments
https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/09/google-is-paying-100-websites-for-contributions-to-ai-overviews-but-the-amounts-are-tiny/