At Google, our mission has always been to enhance the lives of people globally through innovative technology. Each time technology effectively addresses a real-world issue—whether it’s providing solutions to complex questions or identifying health issues from a simple cough—we move closer to our ultimate goal. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has accelerated our ability to tackle challenges faced by individuals, economies, and society at large, but such advancements can only be achieved if everyone has equitable access to these tools.
This week, as leaders convene for the AI Impact Summit in India, we are excited to announce new partnerships and initiatives aimed at fostering global progress. Our focus will be on enhancing infrastructure, expanding connectivity and access, empowering governments, advancing scientific research, facilitating skill acquisition, and developing practical and secure products for all.
Investing in Infrastructure, Science, and Government Capabilities
Our efforts are rooted in a solid foundation. We recently unveiled a $15 billion investment to create essential AI infrastructure in India. Additionally, we are establishing subsea cables across the Pacific, Africa, and globally. Today, we are launching the America-India Connect initiative, which aims to implement new fiber-optic routes that enhance the reach, reliability, and resilience of digital connectivity between the U.S., India, and various locations across the Southern Hemisphere.
To maximize the benefits of this infrastructure, we must also invest in individuals and organizations addressing critical challenges. Governments and public sector entities can play a pivotal role in steering the trajectory of AI. Although recent data reveals that 74% of public servants worldwide are already utilizing AI, only 18% feel that their governments are leveraging it effectively. To help close this gap, we are unveiling several new initiatives:
Creating Opportunities and Capacity with AI Skills
Empowering individuals and civil servants with AI skills enables them to harness AI tools to address challenges within their workplaces or communities. This empowerment is crucial for unlocking AI’s potential for global economic growth and innovation. We have already trained over 100 million people globally in digital skills, and we are excited to announce some of our most ambitious skilling programs to date:
- AI Professional Certificate program: This initiative aims to equip individuals worldwide with the skills to effectively use AI in their professional environments, developed in partnership with government entities, educational institutions, and employers. Scholarships via nonprofits will broaden the program’s outreach. In India, we are joining forces with Wadhwani AI to bring this program to students and early-career professionals.
- A groundbreaking partnership with Karmayogi Bharat: This collaboration seeks to enhance Mission Karmayogi’s vision of a forward-thinking civil service. Google Cloud will provide reliable and secure infrastructure for the iGOT Karmayogi platform, supporting over 20 million public servants spread across more than 800 districts. This partnership will modernize and digitize existing training materials into searchable knowledge assets while progressively offering content in over 18 Indian languages, thereby promoting professional development and enabling officials to learn in their preferred languages.
These initiatives build on our global collaborations with governments to empower public officials, from providing AI tools to public officers in Malaysia to implementing an AI Skilling Blueprint in Africa.
Building Useful Products for Everyone
We aspire to develop AI that is genuinely beneficial in everyday life by removing barriers and enhancing access to knowledge for all. Our tools are becoming more inclusive and secure through several significant updates:
- Reducing language barriers: Our new live speech-to-speech translation model eliminates language obstacles by facilitating real-time translated conversations in over 70 languages, including 10 Indic languages such as Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Furthermore, we are aiding individuals in learning new languages through AI-driven speaking and listening practice tailored to their proficiency levels.
- Smarter search: In the coming weeks, we will enhance the model that drives Search Live, our real-time voice and camera feature, allowing more people to ask queries about visible objects in their native languages, including Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and more. We are also testing new methods to improve the accessibility of helpful information through visual search, even if the images are not clear. The Lens feature will detect blurry images and prompt follow-up questions to enhance the accuracy of results.
- Personalized learning: In India, we have recently implemented new self-study features and JEE Main practice tests within the Gemini app (soon to be available in AI Mode in Search), transforming exam preparation with customized assistance. Both Gemini and AI Mode are rapidly expanding worldwide, with India ranking among the top three countries for each.
- Investing in safeguards for online protection: Since its launch in November, our SynthID verification feature in the Gemini App has been utilized over 20 million times across various languages, assisting users in identifying Google AI-generated media. Additionally, in Circle to Search and Lens, we are now able to identify scam messages, protecting millions from fraud. We have also published our latest Responsible AI progress report, detailing our commitment to ethical AI development and implementation.
Realizing the full potential of AI is a collaborative effort. At Google, we are devoted to making extraordinary technologies accessible to all.
