At the Google Next conference held in San Francisco, Google unveiled a series of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and collaborations with a focus on making these advancements more accessible to large enterprises.
Key announcements from the conference, as reported by Reuters, include the adoption of Google’s cloud software by additional clients, including major companies like General Motors and Estee Lauder Companies. Google introduced a new version of its custom-built AI chips and unveiled an enterprise-scale tool for watermarking and identifying images generated with AI. The company also presented tools for enhancing security and its office suite.
This wave of announcements is part of Google’s recent efforts to showcase its AI plans, as it aims to keep up with the ambitious AI strategy rolled out by Microsoft over the past year.
Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian emphasized the importance of large business customers moving deliberately and at their own pace in adopting AI technologies. He mentioned that it’s crucial for enterprises to approach AI as a strategic software development process rather than merely embracing AI for its own sake.
To strengthen its enterprise cloud service, Google added 20 new AI models to its collection, bringing the total to 100. The AI infrastructure also includes partnerships to grant Google Cloud customers access to AI models from Meta Platforms and the startup Anthropic.
Google also introduced improved versions of its foundational AI infrastructure, enhancing performance and adding new features. For instance, the new version of its text model, called PaLM, allows users to input larger amounts of text, making it suitable for processing longer documents such as legal briefs and books.
Among the other innovations discussed at the conference, Google unveiled an AI-powered tool named SynthID, which adds invisible watermarks to AI-generated images. Additionally, AI updates were announced for Google’s suite of office software and security tools.
Google’s efforts in the AI domain extended to AI chips, with the introduction of a specialized version of its upcoming fifth-generation tensor processing unit (TPU) known as TPU v5e. This chip is tailored to optimize AI and language models, and early access was granted to select users. The company also discussed its intention to offer powerful AI chips designed for training large models and processing their output efficiently.
The Google Next conference showcased Google’s dedication to advancing AI technology and its commitment to supporting enterprises in adopting these innovations for strategic growth.