SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google introduced a range of new artificial intelligence (AI) technology and partnerships at its Google Next conference in San Francisco. The goal is to expand the use of AI in large businesses. The announcement included the addition of new customers for its cloud software, such as General Motors and Estee Lauder Companies.
In addition, Google unveiled a new version of its custom-built AI chips. They also introduced an enterprise-scale tool to watermark and identify AI-generated images, as well as tools for security and its office suite.
This series of announcements is part of Google’s efforts to showcase its AI plans after being caught off guard by Microsoft’s ambitious AI strategy, which has been rolled out since last year. However, Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian emphasized the need for big business customers to move deliberately and at a different pace.
Kurian advised enterprise customers to “go slowly and methodically because it’s important that you treat this as a strategic software development.” He also cautioned against a fear of missing out (FOMO) in the AI industry.
To enhance its enterprise cloud service, Google added 20 AI models to its collection, bringing the total to 100. They also established partnerships with Meta Platforms and Anthropic, granting Google Cloud customers access to their AI models.
Google also introduced updated versions of its own foundation AI infrastructure, improving performance and adding features. For example, the new version of its text model, PaLM, allows for the processing of longer documents such as legal briefs and books.
One of the tools showcased by Google was SynthID, which adds invisible watermarks to AI-generated images. The technology is designed to remain intact even after an image is altered or tampered with.
In addition, Google announced AI updates to its suite of office software and security tools. They introduced an AI-powered tool that can migrate databases from Oracle to an open-source version, a task known to be challenging.
Prior to the announcement of its fifth-generation tensor processing unit (TPU), Google provided access to a version optimized for genAI and large language models. The new chip, called TPU v5e, is designed for training large models and efficiently serving content from them.
Furthermore, Google combined TPU v5e chips into batches of 256, forming a “supercomputer.” By connecting multiple pods together, cloud customers can tackle more complex computing problems.
Overall, Google’s aim is to bring the benefits of AI technology to their enterprise customers, offering improved performance, security, and data processing capabilities across various industries. (Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
