Google Introduces Advanced AI Solutions for Cloud Computing
(Bloomberg) Google has unveiled a comprehensive suite of updates to its artificial intelligence offerings tailored for cloud computing customers, reinforcing the technology’s safety and readiness for corporate applications despite recent challenges in consumer-oriented tools.
Showcasing Gemini’s Capabilities
During the company’s annual cloud computing conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian demonstrated how Google’s most robust AI model, Gemini, can be utilized for various corporate needs, including creating advertisements, enhancing cybersecurity measures, and generating short videos and podcasts. Additionally, the company unveiled a new chip designed to efficiently manage substantial AI workloads while controlling associated costs.
Grounding AI Responses with Reliable Information
Corporate clients will benefit from the ability to ground Gemini’s query results in trustworthy sources of information. Google plans to integrate search results into the AI model’s answers, improving accuracy and the relevance of its outputs. “Enterprises have been piloting various scenarios with generative AI; now they’re deploying them in production,” noted Kurian in an interview with Bloomberg prior to the announcements. “With advancements like grounding and improved answer correctness, people are becoming more comfortable and realizing the value of the technology.”
Bridging the Gap with Rivals
Though Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., trails competitors including Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud market, the sector represents one of the company’s best opportunities for growth as its core search advertising business matures. In 2023, Google marked its first full year of profitability for its cloud unit and is leveraging its AI capabilities to close the gap with its rivals. Following the explosive popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT since late 2022, Google and its competitors view 2024 as the breakthrough year for AI in corporate environments.
Innovative Semiconductor Design
A significant aspect of the pursuit of AI dominance hinges on powerful semiconductors capable of processing extensive data. In this regard, Google is imitating the strategy of Amazon AWS and Microsoft by designing its own microprocessors using technology from UK-based chip designer Arm Holdings Plc. The tech giant announced the rollout of a new central processing unit, called Axion, which is specifically engineered for data centers. Google claims Axion will offer superior performance and improved energy efficiency over existing models, with Kurian labeling it as “a major new advance.”
Building Trust in Enterprise AI
Despite facing setbacks in the consumer market, including criticism of its Gemini product for generating historically inaccurate images, Kurian highlighted the distinct advantages of generative AI in the enterprise sector. The enterprise version of Gemini allows businesses to produce images for advertising campaigns, equipped with 19 controls ensuring brand alignment. “We had zero issues related to the consumer side complaints with Gemini for Workspace,” Kurian stated, emphasizing the enterprise platform’s capabilities in maintaining factual accuracy and safety measures.
Enhanced AI Model Features
The updates to the Gemini model now feature the ability for corporate clients to ground its responses in Google search results, offering citations for each output. During a demonstration, a sample query after an earthquake showed how the grounded version of Gemini provided accurate data, contrasting with the default mode, which failed to reflect the incident correctly.
Vertex AI: New Frontiers in AI Development
Google Cloud’s application developer platform, Vertex AI, is set to gain new features powered by the advanced Gemini 1.5 Pro model, heralded as having the longest context window of any large-scale AI model. Capable of processing up to 1 million “tokens” at once—including audio—the model allows developers to request responses based on large datasets of images, videos, documents, and audio files.
In a demonstration, a Google Vertex AI product leader showcased how Gemini 1.5 Pro integrates with Google Workspace, enabling cloud customers to upload media to Google Drive and request the AI to create tailored content, such as slideshows and podcasts, aligned with brand identity. The AI can also generate “live images,” providing dynamic visual content for marketing purposes.
Cybersecurity Innovations and AI Startups
Expanding its range, Google has introduced new Gemini applications focused on cybersecurity, aimed at helping clients analyze threats and identify potential vulnerabilities. This enhancement builds on Google’s $5.4 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Mandiant in 2022. “AI can help transform what were previously manual research tasks,” Eric Doerr, vice president of cloud security engineering, explained.
Furthermore, Google has highlighted its commitment to collaborating with emergent AI startups, a critical sector for its cloud business. Many successful AI startups were founded by former Google employees and represent substantial computing power demands. Kurian noted an uptake in business from startups using Google Cloud for their generative AI applications, with over 60% of such startups now subscribing to its services. Notably, 90% of unicorns valued over $1 billion are Google Cloud customers, up significantly from 70% just months earlier.
Collaborative Future with Google DeepMind
Kurian emphasized that these product updates stemmed from close collaboration between his cloud unit and Google DeepMind, the company’s leading AI research lab. This cooperation aims to harness the best of both teams, aligning research and product development. “The collaboration is pervasive across the organization,” Kurian said, highlighting their focused partnerships across various tech hubs.
As Google continues to innovate and adapt to the challenges of the AI landscape, the advancements outlined demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that its cloud offerings not only keep pace with competitors but also deliver tailored, safe, and effective solutions for corporate needs.
–With assistance from Ian King.
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