U.S.-headquartered Google on Thursday announced the setting up of a research lab in Bengaluru that will work on advancing artificial intelligence-related research with an aim to solve problems in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and education.
“...we announced Google Research India — a new AI research team in Bangalore that will focus on advancing computer science and applying AI research to solve big problems in healthcare, agriculture, education and more,” Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google, tweeted.
Caesar Sengupta, vice-president, Next Billion Users Initiative and Payments at Google, added that this team would focus on advancing fundamental computer science and AI research by building a strong team and partnering with the research community across the country. It will also be applying this research to tackle problems in fields such as healthcare, agriculture, and education while also using it to make apps and services used by people more helpful.
The new lab, which will be led by Manish Gupta, will be a part of and support Google’s global network of researchers. “We’re also exploring the potential for partnering with India’s scientific research community and academic institutions to help train top talent and support collaborative programmes, tools and resources,” Jay Yagnik, vice-president and Google Fellow, Google AI, said.
Google Pay
The technology giant announced a host of additions to its UPI-powered digital payments app Google Pay, which the company said had grown more than three times in the last 12 months to 67 million monthly active users, driving transactions worth over $110 billion on an annualised basis.
To start with, the company has introduced ‘Spot Platform’ within Google Pay, which will enable merchants to create new experiences that bridge the offline and online world. Ambarish Kenghe, director, product management, Google Pay, said: “A Spot is a digital front for a business that is created, branded and hosted by them, and powered by Google Pay. Users can discover a Spot online or at a physical location, and transact with the merchant easily and securely within the Google Pay app.” Users will now also be able to search for entry-level jobs that could not be easily discovered online via the application. “Jobs will be available as a ‘Spot’ on Google Pay to help job seekers find and prepare for entry-level positions that fit their needs. It uses machine learning to recommend jobs and training content to help these users prepare for interviews and learn new skills,” the company said.
Google will also roll out ‘tokenized’ cards, which will enable users to make payments using debit and credit cards without using actual card number. This will initially rolled out for Visa cards for HDFC, Axis, Kotak and Standard Chartered banks. “We will roll out support to cover Mastercard and Rupay and more banks in the coming months,” Mr. Kenghe said.
