Google I/O 2023: Generative AI in search, cloud and workspace; PaLM2 and new Pixel devices
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, yesterday, delivered the keynote address at the 2023 edition of its annual flagship conference, Google I/O, highlighting the company's latest advancements in AI and machine learning. The company is bringing its technology in generative AI to individual users through a new Labs project. Separately, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian provided an update on how the company is bringing generative AI tech to the enterprise user. On the personal tech front, Google announced three new devices, including the next Pixel phone, a foldable phone and a new tablet. Notes: Google CEO Sundar Pichai, yesterday, delivered the keynote address at the 2023 edition of its annual flagship conference, Google I/O, highlighting the company's latest advancements in AI and machine learning. “Seven years into our journey as an AI-first company, we’re at an exciting inflection point. We have an opportunity to make AI even more helpful for people, for businesses, for communities, for everyone,” Pichai said. “We’ve been applying AI to make our products radically more helpful for a while. With generative AI, we’re taking the next step … we’re reimagining all our core products, including Search,” he added. Google has announced the launch of "Labs", a program that will allow users to preview some of their experiences across Workspace and other products. One of the first experiences available to test in Labs will involve Google Search. As part of Labs, Google is introducing a new Search Generative Experience that combines the company's deep understanding of information with the unique capabilities of generative AI to transform how Search works. On the large language models front, Google has announced the release of PaLM 2, its latest natural language processing (NLP) model. PaLM 2 builds on its predecessor, PaLM, and boasts multilingual capabilities, strength in logic and reasoning, and the ability to be fine-tuned for specific domains. PaLM 2 is the latest product in Google's effort to bring AI to billions of people safely and responsibly. PaLM 2 was developed by two world-class research teams, the Brain Team and DeepMind, which have contributed to significant AI breakthroughs in the past, such as AlphaGo and Transformers. The two teams have recently been brought together into a single unit, Google DeepMind, which is working on Gemini, its next-generation foundation model. Gemini is designed to be multimodal, efficient at the tool and API integrations, and capable of enabling future innovations like memory and planning. Once rigorously tested for safety, Gemini will be available in various sizes and capabilities, just like PaLM 2. In a separate blog post, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian wrote about how the company is bringing generative AI capabilities to help users of all skill levels solve everyday work challenges. Google Cloud has introduced new foundation models and capabilities across its AI products. Codey accelerates software development with code generation, while Imagen generates and customizes studio-grade images. Chirp enables deeper engagement with customers and constituents in their native languages. The company also released three new Android hardware devices in its Pixel line of products.