IT Brew: “Federal agencies are having a Rear Window moment, but they don’t know who’s behind the binoculars.On Jan. 15, Google began rolling out an update to its Workspace utility suite that turned on its AI assistant, Gemini. For some companies—including Morning Brew—this update arrived without warning and required IT staff to disable the feature. That’s because the feature is opt-out, José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, told IT Brew via email. For staffers at beleaguered federal agency USAID, the update came as a surprise at a time when they were already under stress due to job cuts and uncertainty about the future. Staffers were told by leadership during a meeting in late January that Gemini was turned on and likely recording any conversations using the company’s Workspace features. According to two sources at the agency, who spoke to IT Brew anonymously for fear of retaliation, the warning came as agency leadership in the Jan. 31 Google Meet agency meeting seemed to be acting stilted and scripted. Often, one of the sources explained, such meetings are not recorded and thus staff feels comfortable being candid, so the difference was noticeable to them. The warnings about the AI tool, the sources said, were delivered verbally. Another concern expressed by sources is that private conversations, like HR reports, could conceivably be recorded…”