When was Google Photos announced?
Google Photos was announced in May 2015, when it split off from Google+, Google's former social network.
Questions about Google Photos
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How much free storage does Google Photos give users?
Google Photos shares 15 gigabytes of free storage with other Google services such as Google Drive and Gmail, and users can buy more space through a Google One subscription.
Why did Google shut down Picasa after launching Google Photos?
Google announced on the 12th of February 2016 that its Picasa desktop application would be discontinued on the 15th of March 2016, with Picasa Web Albums closing on the 1st of May 2016, so it could focus entirely on Google Photos as a single photo service.
How many users does Google Photos have?
Google Photos reached 100 million users five months after launch, 200 million after one year, 500 million after two years, and passed 1 billion users in 2019.
What was the Google Photos gorilla labeling controversy?
In June 2015, Google Photos mistakenly labeled a black software developer named Jacky Alcine and a friend as gorillas, because the system's training data contained mostly images of white people. Google responded by blocking the label "gorilla" from its system rather than fixing the underlying bias, and eight years later Google Photos still could not identify an actual gorilla.
Was Google Photos used for surveillance in Gaza?
In March 2024, The New York Times reported that Unit 8200, a surveillance unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, used Google Photos's facial recognition to help identify Palestinians in Gaza during the Gaza war.