Google Cloud Next 2023: Advancing AI, Sustainability, and Collaboration

Google Cloud Next 2023 was a game-changer for tech enthusiasts and businesses alike. The event showcased the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, sustainability, and collaboration.

Google Cloud's AI capabilities took center stage, with a focus on making AI more accessible and affordable. This includes the introduction of new AI-powered tools and services.

One of the key takeaways from the event was the emphasis on sustainability. Google Cloud announced new initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, including the use of renewable energy sources and energy-efficient data centers.

The event also highlighted the importance of collaboration in the tech industry. Google Cloud partnered with several companies to advance the development of new technologies and solutions.

Google Cloud has been investing in its infrastructure for 25 years, with a goal to operate entirely on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030. This investment has paid off, with more than 70% of gen AI unicorns and over half of all funded gen AI startups using Google Cloud.

The company has made significant advancements in its infrastructure, including the launch of Cloud TPU v5e, which provides up to a 2x improvement in training performance per dollar and up to a 2.5x improvement in inference performance per dollar compared to Cloud TPU v4.

Cloud TPU v5e is a highly cost-efficient and versatile purpose-built AI accelerator that can be used for both large-scale AI training and inference. It scales to tens of thousands of chips and is optimized for efficiency.

Google Cloud has also launched A3 VMs with NVIDIA H100 GPUs, which offer three times better training performance over the prior-generation A2. These virtual machines are ideal for training and serving demanding AI workloads.

Here are some of the key infrastructure advancements announced by Google Cloud:

Google Cloud is investing heavily in its infrastructure to support the growing demands of generative AI and large language models (LLMs). This includes a global network of 38 cloud regions, with a goal to operate entirely on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030.

To help customers take advantage of this infrastructure, Google Cloud is introducing several new tools and features. Cloud TPU v5e is a cost-efficient and versatile AI accelerator that can scale to tens of thousands of chips. It offers up to 2x higher training performance per dollar and up to 2.5x higher inference performance per dollar compared to Cloud TPU v4.

A3 VMs with NVIDIA H100 GPU will be generally available next month, offering three times better training performance over the prior-generation A2. These virtual machines are ideal for training and serving demanding AI workloads.

Google Cloud is also enhancing its GKE Enterprise platform to enable multi-cluster horizontal scaling for mission-critical AI/ML workloads. This will allow customers to achieve productivity gains of 45%, while decreasing software deployment times by more than 70%.

Here are some key infrastructure advancements to help customers:

These new tools and features will enable organizations to address the ever-increasing demands of generative AI and LLMs, accelerating progress in the field of AI and deep learning.

Google Cloud has made significant advancements in its AI platforms and tools, making it easier for customers to build and deploy generative AI models. Duet AI in Google Cloud is now in preview with new capabilities, and general availability is coming later this year.

The Vertex AI platform has been expanded to include new models, such as Meta's Llama 2 and Code Llama, and pre-announced Anthropic's Claude 2. This will provide customers with more options for building and training their AI models.

Automatic Metrics in Vertex AI allows you to evaluate a model based on a defined task and "ground truth" dataset, making it easier to measure model performance. This feature is a significant improvement for developers and data scientists.

Vertex AI Extensions enable models to take actions and retrieve specific information in real time and act on behalf of users across Google and third-party applications like Datastax, MongoDB, and Redis. This feature opens up new possibilities for integrating AI models with existing systems.

Grounding in Vertex AI roots generative outputs in your enterprise data, increasing confidence in your generative AI search and conversational applications. This feature is particularly useful for businesses that need to ensure the accuracy and reliability of their AI-powered systems.

The new Vertex AI data connectors help ingest data from enterprise and third-party applications like Salesforce, Confluence, and JIRA. This makes it easier to integrate AI models with existing data sources and systems.

Here are the new Vertex AI models and updates:

These updates demonstrate Google Cloud's commitment to providing customers with the tools and resources they need to build and deploy generative AI models.

Google Cloud Next 2023 brought exciting updates to the Vertex AI platform, making it easier for developers and data scientists to build and deploy generative AI applications.

The Vertex AI platform now supports 38 languages with the PaLM 2 foundation model, and its 32,000-token context windows enable processing of long documents in prompts.

Google Cloud is expanding the capabilities of Vertex AI with new models and updates to existing models, including Meta's Llama 2 and Code Llama, and the Technology Innovation Institute's Falcon LLM.

Automatic Metrics in Vertex AI lets you evaluate a model based on a defined task and "ground truth" dataset, making it easier to assess model performance.

The PaLM 2 foundation model now supports 38 languages and 32,000-token context windows, making it possible to process long documents in prompts.

Adapter tuning in Vertex AI is generally available for PaLM 2 for text, enabling fine-tuning of the model for specific tasks.

Grounding in Vertex AI roots generative outputs in your enterprise data, increasing confidence in your generative AI search and conversational applications.

Vertex AI Extensions let models take actions and retrieve specific information in real time and act on behalf of users across Google and third-party applications like Datastax, MongoDB, and Redis.

Google Cloud is also introducing new Vertex AI data connectors to ingest data from enterprise and third-party applications like Salesforce, Confluence, and JIRA.

Colab Enterprise, a managed service in public preview, combines the ease-of-use of Google's Colab notebooks with enterprise-level security and compliance support capabilities.

The Imagen image generation model features improved visual appeal, image editing, captioning, and a new tuning feature to align images to guidelines with 10 or fewer samples.

Vertex AI now supports Ray, an open-source unified compute framework to scale AI and Python workloads, making it easier to deploy AI models at scale.

Automatic Side by Side in Vertex AI uses a large model to evaluate the output of multiple models being tested, helping to augment human evaluation at scale.

The Codey chat and code generation model offers up to a 25% quality improvement in major supported languages for code generation and code chat.

A new generation of Vertex AI Feature Store, built on BigQuery, helps you avoid data duplication and preserve data access policies.

C3 is now certified for SAP, making it easier to integrate with existing enterprise systems.

Google Cloud is revolutionizing the way we work with data, and at the heart of this revolution is the concept of a unified data foundation. This foundation provides a single, unified interface for data engineering, analytics, and predictive analysis, making it easier for data teams to unlock new insights and boost productivity.

BigQuery Studio is a key part of this unified data foundation, offering a single interface for data engineering, analytics, and predictive analysis. It helps increase efficiency for data teams and provides new integrations to Vertex AI foundation models.

With AlloyDB AI, organizations can easily build GenAI apps, including high-performance, vector queries that are up to 10x faster than Standard PostgreSQL. This is a game-changer for data teams looking to accelerate their GenAI development.

Google Cloud's open data ecosystem is also expanding, with new partner solutions and datasets available on Google Cloud. Partners like Confluent, DataRobot, and Dataiku are launching new capabilities to help customers accelerate and enhance GenAI development with data.

Here are some of the key features and capabilities that make up Google Cloud's unified data foundation:

With Google Cloud's unified data foundation, companies can now run their data anywhere and bring AI and machine learning tools directly to their data. This can lower the risk and cost of data movement, making it easier to unlock new insights and boost productivity.

Google Cloud Next 2023 showcased some exciting developments in security and collaboration. Google Cloud is the only leading security provider that brings together frontline intelligence and expertise, a modern SecOps platform, and a trusted cloud foundation, all infused with the power of gen AI.

The company introduced Security AI Workbench, an industry-first extensible platform powered by its next-generation security LLM, Sec-PaLM 2. This platform incorporates Google's unique visibility into the evolving threat landscape and is fine-tuned for cybersecurity operations.

Google Cloud also announced Mandiant Hunt for Chronicle, a service that integrates the latest insights into attacker behavior from Mandiant's frontline experts with Chronicle Security Operations' ability to quickly analyze and search security data. This helps customers gain elite-level support without the burden of hiring, tooling, and training.

Key security features announced at Google Cloud Next 2023 include:

Google Cloud also highlighted its advancements in collaboration, particularly with Google Workspace. Duet AI for Google Workspace is generally available and can create new presentations in Slides, complete with text, charts, and images, based on relevant content in Drive and Gmail.

Collaboration is a vital aspect of any organization, and technology can play a significant role in enhancing collaboration. Duet AI for Google Workspace is now generally available, and you can get started with a no-cost trial.

Google Workspace has been enhanced with Duet AI, allowing you to create a whole new presentation in Slides, complete with text, charts, and images, based on your relevant content in Drive and Gmail. This feature can save you a lot of time and effort.

Duet AI in Google Meet helps you look and sound your best with AI-powered enhancements, including studio look, studio lighting, and studio sound. This can make a big difference in remote meetings, where visual and audio quality can be a challenge.

The "take notes for me" feature in Duet AI can capture notes, action items, and video snippets in real time, and send a recap to attendees after the meeting. This can help keep everyone on the same page and ensure that important information is not missed.

Google Chat is also being enhanced with Duet AI, allowing you to keep up with messaging more efficiently. The platform will soon support up to 500,000 participants in a single space, making it ideal for large organizations.

Huddles in Chat are a new way for teams to communicate in real time, using quick-to-join audio and video conversations, powered by Google Meet. This can help reduce the need for long email threads and improve collaboration among team members.

Data security is a top priority for any organization. Google Cloud is taking a proactive approach to protect sensitive data with Confidential Computing, now in private preview on 4th generation Intel Xeon Scalable CPUs with TDX technology.

This technology provides a secure environment for processing sensitive data, ensuring that it remains confidential and protected from unauthorized access. Confidential Computing is a game-changer for organizations that handle sensitive information.

To further enhance data security, Google Cloud has integrated its Sensitive Data Protection offerings with Dataplex and Dialogflow, which is now generally available. This integration provides an additional layer of protection for sensitive data in these services.

For organizations that require more control over their data, Google Cloud offers Assured Workloads Japan Regions, now in preview. This service provides controlled environments that enforce data residency in Google Cloud's Japanese regions, options for local control of encryption keys, and administrative access transparency.

Here's a summary of the data security features mentioned:

Google Cloud Next 2023 marked a significant milestone in the evolution of enterprise and business solutions. We extended our Looker business intelligence ecosystem and showed that the future of Looker is powered by AI.

Duet AI in Looker is now in preview, making it easier for businesses to leverage AI-driven insights. The Looker semantic layer is now open to Tableau in preview, and to Microsoft Power BI in general availability, expanding the ecosystem's reach.

Businesses can now access the Alteryx Designer Cloud for data preparation and enhanced cloud connectivity, starting with Microsoft Excel and CSV files from storage platforms including Sharepoint and OneDrive. This integration will help streamline data preparation and analysis.

As businesses grow and evolve, their computing needs become more complex and demanding. Enterprise workloads require scalable, high-performance infrastructure to support mission-critical applications.

Google Cloud has enhanced its Compute Engine families with new models and features to meet these needs. The Arm-based C3A, powered by AmpereOne processors, will be in preview next month.

A preview of AMD-based C3D VMs is coming next month, offering the largest instance sizes in Google Cloud's general-purpose portfolio, with up to 360 vCPUs and 2.8TB of DDR5 memory.

Titanium, a system of purpose-built, custom silicon and multiple tiers of offloads, enables offerings like Hyperdisk and the 3rd generation C3 VMs, providing unparalleled performance and efficiency.

C3 VMs support for Hyperdisk Extreme is now in preview, supporting 500K IOPS, making it an ideal choice for demanding workloads.

Google Cloud's VMs now come with new uptime SLAs: a 99.95% uptime SLA for memory-optimized VMs, and 99.9% (up from 99.5%) for all other VM families, ensuring high availability and reliability.

Future reservations, now in preview, allow businesses to reserve compute capacity for a future date, providing greater flexibility and control over their infrastructure.

Workload Manager has new capabilities for securing and deploying SAP workloads, in preview, making it easier to manage complex enterprise applications.

Google Cloud VMware Engine will offer a new VMware Engine node with 2TB RAM and options from 64 - 128 vCPUs and up to 50TB storage, as well as three new storage options: NetApp Volumes, Filestore, and Storage-only (VSAN) nodes, in preview in October.

We've made some exciting advancements in Business Intelligence that will help you make the most of your data. Duet AI in Looker is now in preview, which means you can start exploring its capabilities.

The Looker semantic layer is now open to Tableau in preview, and to Microsoft Power BI in general availability. This integration will give you more flexibility when working with data.

Looker Studio users now have native access to the Alteryx Designer Cloud for data preparation, and enhanced cloud connectivity, starting with Microsoft Excel and CSV files from storage platforms including Sharepoint and OneDrive. This will save you time and effort when preparing data for analysis.

An integration with Looker partner Sisu Data will be generally available later this quarter, helping you determine the root cause of changes, spot data outliers, and identify next steps for analysis. This will give you a deeper understanding of your data and make it easier to make informed decisions.

At Google Cloud Next 2023, the developer experience was a major focus.

We saw the general availability of Jump Start Solutions application and infrastructure solutions, making it easier for developers to get started with Google Cloud.

95. Jump Start Solutions application and infrastructure solutions, are now GA.

The company also made significant strides in application integration, with Application Integration — a no-code integration platform as a service (iPaaS) — now available to help developers weave together their applications.

96. Application Integration — a no-code integration platform as a service (iPaaS) designed to empower you to weave together your applications — is now GA.

Duet AI is now available console-wide, including in GKE, Cloud Run, and Cloud operations suite, making it easier for developers to work with AI.

98. Duet AI is available console-wide, including in GKE, Cloud Run, and Cloud operations suite.

Jump Start Solutions application and infrastructure solutions are now generally available. This means you can easily get started with Google Cloud and build scalable applications and infrastructure.

We've also made Application Integration a no-code integration platform as a service (iPaaS), which is now generally available. This empowers you to weave together your applications without needing to write code.

Our partnership with GitLab offers a secure DevOps solution with integrated source management, artifact management, CI/CD, and enhanced security features. This makes it easier to manage your development workflow and ensure the security of your applications.

Duet AI is now available console-wide, including in GKE, Cloud Run, and Cloud operations suite. It also provides expert assistance throughout the software development lifecycle, including code generation, source citation, testing, and API design.

Colab has been released in public preview, combining the ease of use of Google’s Colab notebooks with enterprise capabilities for security and compliance.

This means data scientists can now collaborate and accelerate AI workflows with access to Vertex AI capabilities, BigQuery integration, and code generation.

Colab Enterprise enables data scientists to work together more efficiently, which is a game-changer for teams working on complex AI projects.

With Colab Enterprise, data scientists can also access over 100 large models from Google, open-source contributors, and third parties, giving them a wealth of options for their AI workloads.

Ray on Vertex AI offers efficiency and scalability, making it ideal for training generative AI models, and Colab Enterprise provides the perfect platform for data scientists to work with these models.

As you return to your development work, consider the enhanced cybersecurity capabilities that Google Cloud is introducing. Google Cloud is also introducing additional capabilities to enhance cybersecurity in Google Cloud environments, such as agentless vulnerability scanning.

This means you can focus on writing code without worrying about security. Cloud Firewall Plus with next-generation firewall capabilities will help protect your applications and data.

With these new features, you can have more confidence in the security of your Google Cloud environments. Network Service Integration Manager will simplify the management of your network services.

This will save you time and effort, allowing you to focus on what matters most - developing innovative solutions.

At Google Cloud Next '23, we're excited to announce several new partnerships and collaborations that are expanding our ecosystem and bringing real-world value to businesses. DocuSign is working with Google to pilot how Vertex AI could be used to help generate smart contract assistants.

Our ecosystem is already delivering value for businesses with gen AI, and we're now bringing new capabilities powered by Google Cloud to millions of users worldwide. SAP is working with us to build new solutions utilizing SAP data and Vertex AI that will help enterprises apply gen AI to important business use cases.

We're also seeing significant growth in the number of partners using Vertex AI to build their own features for customers, including Box, Canva, Salesforce, UKG, and many others. Workday's applications for Finance and HR are now live on Google Cloud and they're working with us to develop new gen AI capabilities within the flow of Workday.

Some of the key partnerships we're announcing include:

These partnerships are just the beginning of our efforts to expand our ecosystem and bring the power of gen AI to businesses and organizations around the world.