Google for India 2024 Highlights: Gemini Live in regional languages, GPay gold loans, India’s 1st GSEC, and more

Android users in India will automatically be blocked from installing apps from unverified sources with a new security feature that Google plans to roll out on a pilot-basis in India over the weeks ahead. Speaking to indianexpress.com, Eugene Liderman, director, Mobile Security Strategy, Google, said, "When a user tries to install an app on their phone, Google Play Protect will do two things: first, it will check the source of the installation—whether it’s coming from a browser, a messaging app, or a file manager—and then determine whether the app is requesting permissions that are highly correlated with financial fraud." Read more about the new security feature here.

Google has launched the AI Skills House, a learning programme with AI courses for students, job seekers, educators, developers, and civil officials. Some of the courses being offered are Introduction to Generative Al, Introduction to Responsible AI and Introduction to Large Language Models. They will be available for free on YouTube and the Google Cloud Skills Boost platform. “These courses are available in English, and will extend to seven Indian languages soon. Google is also bringing the Google AI Essentials and GenAI for Educators courses to Hindi speakers,” it said.

Indian organisations spanning all sectors will have the option to store customer data and conduct machine learning processing for Gemini 1.5 Flash entirely within India," says Bedi, mentioning that some workloads may have legal guardrails to ensure that sensitive data of Indian citizens stays within Indian shores. "This provides even greater control and security for organisations using our most-advanced AI models."

"We've been using AI to strengthen scam mitigation measures. We are focusing on proactive mitigation on Google Pay powered by our cutting edge AI and ML models,"Snigdha Bhardwaj, director, search and generative AI trust strategy, Google.

"Since last year we've prevented scams of over Rs 13,000 crore and issued 40 million warnings to safeguard Indian users. On Google Maps, AI-powered solutions helped us remove 170 million policy violating reviews," she says.

Google's health research team has supported NHA to build tools that helps developers easily integrate with the machine architecture, Patel says, while inviting Kiran Gopal Viska, the mission director of ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission) on stage.

"By leveraging technology, our mission is to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare providers, streamline processes, and ultimately lead to a paradigm shift in healthcare in India. By fostering interoperability and connecting stakeholders, we aim to reduce fragmentation and increase transparency. This will make how healthcare is provided more efficient and patient-centric," Viska says.

Bakul Patel, senior director, global digital health and regulatory strategy at Google, takes the stage to discuss how the company is using AI in health products. "We want to marshall Google's health solutions that will work for people in diverse settings and languages." "Our most accurate heart rate sensor in the recently released Pixel Watch 3 uses AI to provide actionable insights for your fitness goals," he says.

Two out of every three transactions on Google Pay culminate in other apps and in terms of merchant payments, more than 90 per cent end outside of Google Pay, says Sharath Bulusu, director, product management, Google India. Interoperability by design means a new product can win the hearts of users regardless of when they launch. With the launch of UPI Circle, it enables users to delegate payments to friends and family.

More than 5 crore Google Pay users checked their CIBIL score. Partnerships with Indian banks led to credit access to more than 13,000 pincodes, Bulusu says.

"Gemini is helping us re-imagine Google Search for you. A powerful example of this is AI Overviews. We are building it thoughtfully to help you access information and perspectives from a diverse range of sources," says Hema Budaraju, adding that feedback from users has been positive. It was rolled out with English and Hindi support in India two months ago.

Today, the company is expanding its Gen AI experience in Search to Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil in the coming weeks. "AI Overviews help users quickly nd what they need on Search, with links to referenced web pages to go deeper."

Hema Budaraju, senior director, product management, Google India, is on stage explaining how Google's AI model Gemini can be used in the Indian context. "Not just students, this can be a gamechanger for teachers, entrepreneurs, everyone. We are making it more accessible with your voice. Over 40 per cent of Gemini Indian language users are already using their voice to get inspiration."

The whitepaper is titled “AI Opportunity Agenda for India” whitepaper that is meant to server as a roadmap to help "deliver on the government’s India AI Mission by focussing on three key priorities – investing in innovation infrastructure, building an AI-ready workforce, and promoting inclusive adoption and accessibility."

"India's AI-fueled leap has the power to unlock economic value to the tune of Rs 33 lakh crore by 2030. What's more, it has the power to propel an entire generation of Indians towards escape velocity," Chobey says, while offering Miko.AI, i-Saksham, and Agrost as examples.

Off late, Google Maps has been looking to step up its game in India since ride-hailing service Ola launched its own mapping solution. Recently, it introduced a bunch of India-centric features including flyover callouts and metro ticket booking features in a few Indian cities. It also cut prices for Indian developers who use its Maps API for their apps. So, we can definitely expect more Google Maps features for India today.

Roughly two months ago, Google rolled out its controversial AI overviews Search feature in India. With this feature, Indian users can see AI-generated summaries in Hindi and English on Google Search. Why controversial? AI Overviews had to initially be put on hold after users posted screenshots of factually inaccurate and misleading AI-generated answers. From today onwards, we might see these AI-generated answers to search queries in more Indian languages.

The invite for the tenth edition of the Google for India event is a 3D miniature version of the indoor venue. Pretty cool.

Feeling 10/10 at the 10th edition of #googleforindiahttps://t.co/BcOqMVlDExpic.twitter.com/J4JoSzw3W5

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) October 3, 2024

Here are the top execs slated to address the gathering at the tenth edition of Google for India:

- Roma Datta Chobey, managing director, Google India

- Hema Budaraju, senior director, product management, Google India

- Sharath Bulusu, director, product management, Google India

- Bakul Patel, senior director, global digital health and regulatory strategy at Google

- Snigdha Bhardwaj, director, search and generative AI trust strategy, Google

- Bikram Bedi, vice president and country MD, Google Cloud India

- Giorgio Fortunato, head of clean energy and power, Asia Pacific

- Vikram Khosla, vice president, marketing, Google India

- Dr Manish Gupta, director, Google Deepmind

In a few hours from now, Google will kick off its annual event where it is expected to showcase new features and product updates that have been developed keeping in mind India's unique needs. The live stream will commence from 11: 30 am IST onwards and Google has also set up a separate live stream with Indian Sign Language (ISL) interpretation. "On October 3rd, we will be sharing our vision for the next chapter of India’s internet journey: from access to the internet, to success on the internet with the help of AI," the tech giant said.