Google Cloud announced a whole host of generative artificial intelligence initiatives involving its partners at its Google Cloud Next event today in San Francisco.

The central theme in today’s announcements was how Google Cloud is helping its partners to use generative AI to accelerate their technology transformations, and it’s doing so in some creative ways.

Generative AI has become the hottest technology trend of the year thanks to the buzz around chatbots such as ChatGPT. While Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI LP have stolen many of the headlines, Google has emerged as a major player too, unveiling its own chatbot called Bard and playing a key role in AI development with platforms such as Vertex AI.

At Google Cloud Next, the company revealed how it’s partnering with various technology leaders to help them implement generative AI features. One of its biggest partners is SAP SE, the German enterprise technology giant.

Google explained that its combining their integrated open data cloud based on SAP Datasphere with the Vertex AI platform to create multiple new generative AI capabilities for SAP customers. They include various new offerings that use Google Cloud’s generative AI models in conjunction with data from Catena-X, an open data ecosystem built by SAP for the automotive industry.

According to Google, this will enable automotive companies to combine data from Catena-X with information from SAP to build and train generative AI models that can optimize work in areas such as manufacturing and supply chains. As an example, Google said generative AI can help identify and mitigate potential vehicle problems before they cause recalls, improve safety on hazardous roads, and increase the overall quality of new cars by predicting defects better.

There’s a sustainability push too, with SAP customers able to combine Vertex AI and SAP Datasphere to create new generative AI features that can help to accelerate joint customer’s sustainability programs, Google said. This will involve combining SAP data with third-party environmental, social and governance datasets to create bespoke sustainability reports and deeper insights on the environmental impact of business operations.

Another key partner for Google Cloud in generative AI is DocuSign Inc., which offers tools to electronically sign documents. Google explained that DocuSign is now piloting a new smart contracts assistant powered by Vertex AI, enabling users to ask questions in a conversational way about complex contracts and other documents.

Meanwhile, Google said, it’s working with Haier Corp.’s GE Appliances to enhance and personalize consumer experiences with generative AI. GE Appliances’s SmartHQ consumer app is launching a new feature called Flavorly AI that was built using Vertex AI. The idea with this is that it can generate custom recipes based on whatever food people have available in their kitchens. It will also help to answer questions about the use and care of connected appliances, Google said.

“We are seeing a variety of brands across industries invest in generative AI to help them create deeper, more meaningful connections with their customers,” said Google Cloud Chief Executive Thomas Kurian. “GE Appliances will use our AI technology to create highly personalized, helpful and easy-to-use digital experiences for consumers.”

Google’s growing momentum in generative AI

Google didn’t go into quite so much detail on the rest of its generative AI partnerships, but there is lots going on. For instance, AI21 Labs Inc. is partnering with Google Cloud to integrate industry-specific generative AI capabilities into the Google BigQuery platform, while the pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG is working with the company to explore the use of Med-PaLM 2, a medically-tuned large language model. HCA Healthcare LLC is also exploring the possibilities of Med-PaLM 2.

Fox Sports Interactive Media LLC is collaborating with Google to bring generative AI to major sports event broadcasts, but at least ahead of the announcement, it didn’t reveal what these experiences will look like. The partnership could perhaps enable viewers to conduct quick searches on various athletes as they’re watching live, to surface information about their past performances and the like.

Meanwhile, General Motors Co. said it is working with Google to explore chatbot and document analysis with generative AI. Prior to this, GM had already deployed Google’s conversational AI technology with its OnStar service.

The global investment research firm MSCI Inc. will use Google Cloud and Vertex AI to create tools that help investors identify and manage risk and opportunities, speed up decision-making and build more sustainable portfolios. In addition, the amusement park operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp. said it’s using Google’s generative AI to build an in-park infobot that will help guests to navigate through its attractions, for example by finding rides with the shortest queues, or restaurants that best appeal to their tastes.

Finally, Google said that companies that include Acxiom LLC, Bloomberg LP, CoreLogic Inc., Equifax Inc., Nielsen Consumer LLC and TransUnion LLC have all agreed to make domain-specific datasets available on Google Cloud. Companies will be able to use these datasets to build and train generative AI models for a range of different tasks, Google said.

Image: Google Cloud