Manyika also highlighted Google's commitment to responsible innovation, mentioning the company's recent developments in AI, including a new "watermarking" technology for identifying AI-generated text, images, and audio. He also noted that much of Google's innovation comes from its French hub. Meanwhile, major U.S. tech firms are trying to win favor with regulators amid criticisms over their impact on smaller companies. Concerns have been raised about the potential for AI to undermine jobs, exploit copyrighted material, and produce misinformation and harmful content.
Key takeaways:
- At the Viva Tech conference in Paris, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels and Google SVP for Technology and Society James Manyika highlighted the benefits of AI for economies and communities, amidst global efforts to regulate the technology.
- Vogels emphasized the potential of AI to solve global problems and Manyika pointed out its benefits in health and biotechnology, citing Google's Gemini AI model tailored for medical applications.
- The EU's AI Act, the world's first major law governing AI, was given the final greenlight, aiming to curb harms and abuses of the technology, such as misinformation and copyright abuse.
- Big Tech companies are trying to win favor with regulators and French officials, with Microsoft and Amazon committing to invest a combined 5.2 billion euros for cloud and AI infrastructure and jobs in France.