Today, Google introduced the next wave of generative artificial intelligence (AI) innovation across core areas of its business. Developers and businesses can now try new APIs and products that make it easy, safe, and scalable to start building with Google’s best AI models through Google Cloud and a new prototyping environment called MakerSuite. In Google Workspace, the company is introducing new features that help users harness the power of generative AI to create, connect, and collaborate.
“Breakthroughs in generative AI are fundamentally changing how people interact with technology – and at Google, we’ve been responsibly developing large language models so we can safely bring them to our products,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “Our goal is to continue to be bold and responsible in our approach and partner with others to improve our AI models so they’re safe and helpful for everyone. We’re excited by the potential of generative AI and the opportunities it will unlock – from helping people express themselves creatively, to helping developers build brand new types of applications, to transforming how businesses and governments engage their customers and constituents.”
For developers looking to build the next generation of applications with generative AI, Google is introducing the PaLM application programming interface (API), a new offering that makes it easy and safe to experiment with Google’s best large language models. Today, Google is making an efficient model available, in terms of size and capabilities, and other sizes will be added soon.
The API also comes with an intuitive tool called MakerSuite, which lets developers quickly prototype ideas and, over time, will have features for prompt engineering, synthetic data generation, and custom-model tuning – all supported by robust safety tools.
Select developers can access the PaLM API and MakerSuite in Private Preview today.
Bringing generative AI capabilities to Google Cloud
Google is bringing new generative AI capabilities to its Google Cloud AI portfolio to help developers and organizations access enterprise-level safety, security, privacy, as well as integrate with their existing Google Cloud solutions. This includes:
● Generative AI support in Vertex AI: Developers and businesses already use Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to build and deploy machine learning (ML) models and AI applications at scale. Today, Google Cloud is announcing Generative AI support in Vertex AI, which offers the simplest way for data science teams to take advantage of foundation models like PaLM, in a way that provides them with the most choice and control. Generative AI support in Vertex AI will initially provide foundation models for generating text and images, and over time with audio and video. Google Cloud customers will have the ability to discover models, create and modify prompts, fine tune them with their own data, and deploy applications that use these powerful new technologies.
● Generative AI App Builder: Businesses and governments also want to build their own AI-powered chat interfaces and digital assistants. To enable this, Google Cloud is introducing Generative AI App Builder, which provides the fastest way for developers to jumpstart the creation of generative AI applications—or gen apps—such as bots, chat apps, digital assistants, custom search engines, and more, with limited technical expertise required. With API access to Google’s foundation models, developers can use out-of-the-box templates to jumpstart the creation of gen apps in minutes or hours.
Across these, Google Cloud ensures organizations have complete control over if, how, and for what their data is used.
Starting today, trusted testers are accessing Generative AI support in Vertex AI and Generative AI App Builder. If you are interested in updates on early access opportunities, please join the Google Cloud Innovators technical community.
Building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem
In addition to announcing new AI innovations, Google Cloud is committed to being the most open cloud provider. Today, the company is bringing the best of Google’s infrastructure, AI products, and foundation models to partners at every layer of the AI stack. This includes chipmakers; companies building foundation models and AI platforms; technology partners enabling companies to develop and deploy ML models; app builders solving customer use cases with generative AI; and global services and consulting firms that help enterprise customers implement all of this technology at scale.
Google Cloud is launching Built with Google Cloud AI, a new initiative that helps independent software vendor (ISV) partners get started with building applications using Google Cloud AI services. The initiative provides dedicated access to Google Cloud expertise, training, and co-marketing support to help partners build capacity and go to market.
To enable more AI-first startups, Google Cloud is also expanding the Google for Startups Cloud Program, with exclusive benefits for AI startups (seed to series A). This includes:
● More than double the amount of cloud credits: AI-first startups can access up to US$250,000 in Google Cloud credits for their first year – 2.5 times the amount typically offered to startups in their first year. In their second year in the program, Google Cloud will cover 20% of their cloud costs of up to US$100,000.
● Free customer care and enhanced support: AI startups are innovating quickly, so Google Cloud is providing 24/7 access to fast, high-quality technical support to accelerate onboarding and implementation.
● Access to Google Cloud experts and community: Startups in the program will get access to Google Cloud success managers, customer engineers, and networking events with the startup community.
Interested AI startups can now apply to join the program.
New generative AI features in Google Workspace
More than three billion users are already benefiting from AI-powered features in Google Workspace, from saving more time with Smart Compose and Smart Reply in Gmail, auto-generating summaries in Google Docs, looking more professional in meetings, and staying safe against malware and phishing attacks.
Today, Google unveiled its vision for how Google Workspace is evolving to incorporate AI as a collaborative partner that is always there to help individuals achieve their goals, across Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Meet, and Chat.
As a start, Google is embedding generative AI in Docs and Gmail to help people get started writing.
Whether you’re a busy HR professional who needs to create customized job descriptions or a parent drafting the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party, Workspace saves you the time and effort of writing that first version. Simply type a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated for you. With your collaborative AI partner, you can continue to refine and edit, getting more suggestions as needed.
Finding the right tone and style can also be tricky at times. Perhaps you’re applying for a new job or writing to a new supplier in a more traditional industry, and you need to adopt a more formal tone in your email. Or you’ve jotted down a few bullets on your phone from a recent meeting and want to transform them into a more polished summary to share with your team. For these common scenarios and many more, Google is adding new generative AI capabilities to help you rewrite. And if you’re in the mood to let AI try out a new playful voice altogether, you’ll be able to hit the “I’m feeling lucky” option in Gmail.
Google will be bringing these new generative AI experiences in Google Workspace to trusted testers on a rolling basis throughout the year, before making them publicly available.
“Generative AI is an emerging and rapidly evolving technology with complex challenges. That’s why we invite external and internal testers to pressure test new experiences, and why we have AI Principles to guide this work. These principles also serve as an ongoing commitment to our customers worldwide who rely on our products to build and grow their businesses safely with AI,” added Kurian.
