After dominating conversations around the world for all of 2023, AI technology loomed large and Generative AI was front and centre at Google for India event held at Pragati Maidan on October 19. While the Google leadership of India and the greater Asia Pacific region attended the conference and announced new products, services and initiatives, the common theme was Generative AI and its endless applications at the ninth edition of the annual flagship event of the company in the country.

“The possibilities of technology took a new leap when Generative AI became available to all of us. Generative AI is a technology that can synthesize, predict, and create at a scale previously unimaginable to us,” said Sanjay Gupta, Country Head and Vice President, Google India, adding that in his mind, it is a moment as significant as the birth of the internet.

Gupta and his colleagues went on to talk about and demonstrate how Google was harnessing the power of AI, along with its own capabilities, to create a new generation of products, services, and applications of technology.

While the biggest announcement of the day was the news that Google, in response to recent moves by arch-nemesis Apple, will begin the manufacture of its latest Pixel 8 device in India, with the new made-in-India devices to start rolling out in early 2024, the tech company has plenty more in store for the country.

Google Search, the company’s foundational product, now infused with Generative AI, was being transformed into Search Generative Experience (SGE), which has been running for a month reportedly to great success. And starting from the day of the conference, there will be an enhanced visual feed for searches, with filters that will help users customize their discoveries and purchases. This will naturally impact advertisers as well, with Google promising a dedicated space for Search Ads in the SGE.

And coming closer to home, in the fields of media and entertainment, Mira Chatt, Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy, India, YouTube, pointed out that one in three Indian users searched for news on YouTube, and so the video platform has partnered with trusted Indian news publishers and will be introducing a new Watch Page for News in the coming months, available in 11 Indian languages.

“It is a more immersive way of keeping informed. The page will recommend videos from credible sources of news on YouTube, and will include commentary and explainers, latest updates, Live News, and Shorts,” said Chatt.

Given that Google empowers over 900 million business connections across India per month, the conference also announced the rolling out of the Google Merchant Centre Next in which merchants can use AI for insights, strategies, and more, meaning shopping just got easier for the shop owners as well.

The company also announced a slew of partnerships of Google Cloud with private and government institutions, including further engagement with ONDC for everything from working with farmers to booking metro train rides on the Open Network for Digital Commerce. There are also a number of projects being undertaken with MeITy (Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology), with MeITy Minister Ashwini Vaishnav being the chief guest at the event.

With one billion people in India expected to be online by 2025, many of them being first time internet users, Google also said it would be paying close attention to safety and security and also announced projects and grants to help fight fraud and encourage digital literacy and foreknowledge.

This included DigiKavach, a new initiative that tracks, studies, and preempts financial fraud and threats, as well as Hit Pause, a new YouTube program available in several Indian languages which has popular creators and influencers educate users on digital literacy and security.