Skip to main content

Google Launches Enterprise AI Tools, New AI Chip

Google unveiled a swath of fresh artificial-intelligence technology and partnerships on Tuesday that were geared toward bringing more of the growing technology to large businesses.

The batch of announcements from its Google Next conference in San Francisco included new customers for its cloud software such as General Motors (GM.N) and Estee Lauder Companies (EL.N).

The Alphabet (GOOGL.O) subsidiary made public a new version of its custom-built AI chips, unveiled an enterprise-scale tool to watermark and identify images generated with AI – plus tools for security and its office suite.

The flurry of announcements is part of Google’s recent effort to showcase its AI plans, after Microsoft (MSFT.O) caught the company off guard with an ambitious AI strategy it has been rolling out since last year.

But its big business customers need to be deliberate and move at a different pace, Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian said in an interview with Reuters.

“We’ve generally told enterprise customers, ‘Go slowly and methodically because it’s important that you treat this as a strategic software development,'” he said. 

“There’s been this sort of FOMO of, ‘I need to be in generative AI for generative AI’s sake.'”

FOMO refers to fear of missing out, a common refrain in AI in recent months.

To bolster Google’s enterprise cloud service it added 20 AI models to its collection, bringing the total to 100. 

The AI infrastructure includes deals to bring Google Cloud customers access to Meta Platforms’ (META.O) AI model LLaMa 2, and to the startup Anthropic’s Claude 2.

Google announced new versions of its own foundation AI infrastructure that improve performance and add features. 

The new version of its text model called PaLM, for example, increased the amount of text users can input to make it easier to process longer documents such as legal briefs and books.

Google discussed a tool that adds the capability to watermark AI-generated images. 

Called SynthID, the technology alters a digital image file in a way invisible to human eyes. 

It is designed to remain intact after an image is altered or tampered with.

Google also rolled out AI updates to its suite of office software and security tools. 

The company unveiled an AI-powered tool that can port databases from Oracle (ORCL.N) to an open-source version, a notoriously difficult task.

Ahead of the announcement of its full-fledged fifth-generation tensor processing unit (TPU), Google has opened access to a version that is optimized for genAI and large language models.

The new chip, called TPU v5e, is designed to train large models but also efficiently serve content from those models. 

It is not as powerful as the as yet unlaunched flagship fifth AI generation chip.

Google has stitched together the TPU v5e chips into batches of 256 that it describes as a “supercomputer.” 

Cloud customers can connect several pods together in order to tackle more complex computing problems.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

FG Begins Payment Of Health Workers’ Salary Arrears

The Federal Government has commenced payment of the salary arrears to health workers under the expanded midwives service scheme. The development followed the report that the Federal Government, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and Sydani Group owed doctors, nurses, midwives, and community health extension workers under the scheme four-month salary arrears. The health workers under the eMSS lamented the untold hardship caused by the non-payment of salaries, coupled with the high cost of living in the country. eMSS was implemented by the Federal Government through the national primary healthcare development agency as part of efforts to improve maternal and child health in the country. The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPHCDA, Dr. Muyi Aina, confirmed on Thursday that the Federal Government had begun paying the three-month arrears. Aina said, “We are aware that the workers have begun to receive payments of outstanding salaries for Au...

Keyamo Rubbishes Pact On Nigeria Air

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has again faulted the agreement the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari signed with Ethiopian Airlines on the proposed national carrier, Nigeria Air. The minister, who briefed State House reporters on Monday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said the agreements of the deal were unfair to Nigerian airlines as the deal would create a monopoly for Ethiopian Airlines. Keyamo said that reports on the issue had been submitted to President Bola Tinubu, who will make a decision on the deal. The minister said he “cannot pre-empt my president,” adding that “all the reports, everything, we have forwarded to Mr. President, the issues we met on the ground.” “But just to say that it would have been irresponsible of me as minister to take over office and close my eyes totally to those concerns. “So, because of that, we suspended it to say, Let’s just look at all the issues and recommend. Now we have looked...

Tinubu Departs Abuja For Japan, Brazil •To Stopover In Dubai, Hold Strategic Talks In Tokyo, Brasília

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday departed Abuja for a two-nation official visit to Japan and Brazil, making a brief stop in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. His aircraft took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, around 11:15 am, with top government officials — including Chief of Staff, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila; National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; and Minister of Finance, Wale Edun — on hand to see him off. In a statement, Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga revealed that the President’s first stop will be in Yokohama, Japan, where he will participate in the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) from August 20 to 22. The summit, themed: “Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa,” aims to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation through private investment, innovation, and stronger institutions. While in Japan, President Tinubu is expected to attend plenary sessions, engage in bilateral talks with world leaders, and mee...