Google unveils AI enhancements to Search and Maps

Google used an event in Paris to unveil some of the latest AI advancements to its Search and Maps products.

The last-minute event was largely seen as a response to Microsoft’s integration of OpenAI’s models into its products. Just yesterday, Microsoft held an even more impromptu event where it announced that a new version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot – based on GPT-4 – will be integrated into the Edge browser and Bing search engine.

Google was expected to make a...

Google will leapfrog rivals with AI event next week

Google is holding an AI event next week to make some announcements ahead of rivals.

The web giant says the event will provide an update on how Google is “using the power of AI to reimagine how people search for, explore, and interact with information, making it more natural and intuitive than ever before to find what you need.”

OpenAI reportedly set off alarm bells at Google with ChatGPT. At the invite of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the company’s founders – Larry...

Google to speed up AI releases in response to ChatGPT

Google is reportedly set to speed up its release of AI solutions in response to the launch of ChatGPT.

The New York Times claims ChatGPT set off alarm bells at Google. At the invite of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the company’s founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – returned for a series of meetings to review Google’s AI product strategy.

Google is one of the biggest investors in AI and has some of the most talented minds in the industry. As a result, the company...

Vodafone and Google launch AI Booster platform

A new platform launched by Vodafone and Google called AI Booster aims to handle thousands of ML models a day across 18+ countries.

AI Booster is the result of 18 months of development and is built upon Google’s Vertex AI and integrates with Vodafone’s Neuron platform.

Vertex AI, among other Google technologies, had not been officially announced when Vodafone started development on AI Booster.

Cornelia Schaurecker, Global Group Director for Big Data & AI...

Google places engineer on leave after claim LaMDA is ‘sentient’

Google has placed one of its engineers on leave after claiming the company’s LaMDA chatbot is “sentient”.

The engineer in question, Blake Lemoine, is part of Google’s Responsible AI division. In a Washington Post article posted over the weekend, Lemoine said that he believes LaMDA has achieved sentience.

Here’s an excerpt from one conversation between Lemoine and LaMDA:

Lemoine: So let's start with the basics. Do you...

Google employs ML to make Chrome more secure and enjoyable

Google has explained how machine learning is helping to make Chrome more secure and enjoyable.

Starting with security, Google says that its latest machine learning (ML) model has enabled Chrome to detect over twice as many phishing attacks and malicious sites.

The new on-device machine learning model was rolled out in March. Since its rollout, Google claims that Chrome has detected 2.5x more threats.

Beyond security, Google is also preparing to use machine...

Google no longer accepts deepfake projects on Colab

Google has added “creating deepfakes” to its list of projects that are banned from its Colab service.

Colab is a product from Google Research that enables AI researchers, data scientists, or students to write and execute Python in their browsers.

With little fanfare, Google added deepfakes to its list of banned projects.

Deepfakes use generative neural network architectures – such as autoencoders or generative adversarial networks (GANs) – to manipulate...

Apple’s former ML director reportedly joins Google DeepMind

A machine learning exec who left Apple due to its return-to-office policy has reportedly joined Google DeepMind. 

Ian Goodfellow is a renowned machine learning researcher. Goodfellow invented generative adversarial networks (GANs), developed a system for Google Maps that transcribes addresses from Street View car photos, and more.

In a departure note to his team at Apple, Goodfellow cited the company’s much-criticised lack of flexibility in its work...

Google picks ASUS IoT to help scale its Coral edge AI platform

Google has picked ASUS IoT to help scale the manufacturing, distribution, and support of its Coral edge AI platform.

Coral was launched in 2019 with the goal of making edge AI more accessible. Google says that it’s witnessed strong demand since its launch – across industries and geographies – and needs a reliable partner able to help it scale.

ASUS IoT is a sub-brand of the wider ASUS brand that has decades of experience in global electronics...

Babylon Health taps Google Cloud to boost scalability and innovation

AI-powered healthcare service Babylon Health has announced a partnership with Google Cloud to boost scalability and innovation.

London-based Babylon Health is a digital-first health service provider that uses AI and machine learning technology to provide access to health information to people whenever and wherever they need it.

The company has partnered with private and public across the UK, North America, South-East Asia, and Rwanda with the aim of making healthcare...