Google Introduces Generative AI to Search in India, Japan

Alphabet's Google said on Wednesday it introduced generative artificial intelligence to its Search tool for users in India and Japan that will show text or visual results to prompts, including summaries.

The feature, which was first launched only in the United States, was rolled out this week in the two countries, and users will have the choice to opt in for it.

Japanese users will be able to use the feature in their local languages, while it will be available in English and Hindi in India.

Google's search feature is meant to be used for seeking information, such as locating something to purchase. It is different from its chatbot Bard, which has a persona that can hold human-like conversations to, for instance, generate software code.

Meanwhile, Google on Tuesday made its artificial intelligence-powered tools available to enterprise customers at a monthly price of $30 (nearly Rs. 2,500) per user, as the Alphabet-owned firm looks to cash in on the technology's surge in popularity this year.

The price is the same as rival Microsoft's "Copilot" AI-powered office software suite that includes Teams and Outlook.

Google has intensified investments in generative AI this year as it plays catch-up after Microsoft-backed OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT last year took the tech world by storm.

Its Tuesday announcement was made at the Google Next conference in San Francisco, where the company also unveiled a new version of its custom-built AI chips and a tool to watermark and identify images generated by AI.

Google's new tools include "Duet AI in Workspace", which will assist customers across its apps with writing in Docs, drafting emails in Gmail and generating custom visuals in Slides, among others. © Reuters

August 31, 2023