Key takeaways from Google for India 2023 event

Google today organised the ninth edition of the Google for India event in New Delhi. Artificial intelligence was the overarching theme, in line with the evolving technology landscape globally. The event was also attended by telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Google country head Sanjay Gupta wrote in a blog that low-cost data, increasing internet connectivity, UPI-led digital public infrastructure, and startups in the field have ‘positioned India to take the next leap forward – into the new technology paradigm with the advent of gen AI, and its power to synthesize, predict and create at a scale that has been unimaginable till now’.

Some of the major announcements made at Google for India 2023 include the following:

Generative AI-based enhancements

Earlier this year, Google rolled out the generative AI experience for search, called Search Generative Experience (SGE) in English and Hindi as an experiment in Search Labs. At today’s event the tech giant announced that it is introducing new visual and local capabilities to search in India. Now many of the search overviews will have image and video overviews.

Further, the new generative AI capabilities in Search will help users navigate and access critical information of over 100 government schemes across areas such as employment, housing, healthcare, farming, women’s welfare, and more, in English and Hindi. For small businesses, Google has launched a bunch of AI-based capabilities for improving customer catalog, showing up better in Search, and improve overall customer experience.

Google also informed that Google Lens is used more by people in India every month than any other country. To enhance its capabilities, Google has improved Lens to help people search for skin conditions visually similar to what they see on their skin. 

Launch of generative AI center of excellence (CoE)

Google has announced a partnership with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) indic language initiative Bhashini. Under this partnership, Google Cloud will establish CoE on generative AI and language inclusivity. Google said that the aim is to train more than a million professionals and students with generative AI knowledge. 

Pixel smartphones manufacturing in India

In one of the major highlights, Google announced that it will start manufacturing Pixel smartphones in India. The company will begin with Pixel 8 and will partner wit international and domestic manufacturers to produce Pixel smartphones locally. These devices are expected to start to roll out in 2024.

To be sure, media reports in September said that Apple too plans to manufacture the iPhone 15 Plus in India.

AI-based security

Google rolled out the real-time scanning capability for Google Play Protect. Google Play Protect is built-in and proactive protection against malware that scans 125 billion apps daily and the new addition is expected to enhance its capability. Google Play Protect will now recommend a real-time app scan when installing apps that have never been scanned before to help detect threats.