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UK telecoms giant Vodafone has extended its partnership with Google, signing a ten-year deal to roll out premium offers centered on generative AI and expanded cloud storage.

Key Takeaways

• Vodafone and Google extend their partnership for another decade in a deal worth over $1 billion.
• From 2025, Vodafone will offer Google One AI and Gemini Advanced in Europe and Africa for €22 per month.
• Gemini Advanced includes 2 TB of Google Cloud storage and AI features for end users.
• Vodafone will use Google’s Vertex AI to accelerate the rollout of new services for consumer and business customers.
• A cloud-native security service based on Google’s Security Operations platform will be developed for business customers.

Vodafone Group announced on 8 October 2024 that its expanded ten-year agreement with Google – now including generative AI – is valued at over $1 billion. The deal primarily covers Vodafone’s networks in Europe and Africa.

Under the agreement, Vodafone will begin offering subscriptions for Google One AI and Gemini Advanced in select countries across the region starting in 2025. The €22 monthly fee for Gemini Advanced also includes 2 TB of Google Cloud storage.

The extended partnership also enables Vodafone to leverage Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to bring new services to its customers more quickly. For business customers, Vodafone plans to develop a new cloud-native security service based on Google’s Security Operations platform, according to Golem.

Making Gemini More Accessible to Users

“Together, Vodafone and Google will bring new AI-powered content and devices to millions more consumers,” said Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle. Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed his enthusiasm for the expanded partnership, stating it would help “make AI products and services – including our Gemini models – more accessible to people across Europe and Africa,” as quoted by Golem. He added that he is eager to see how generative AI and Google Cloud will be leveraged.

Despite Gemini Pro’s speed advantage over ChatGPT 4, Google continues to face stiff competition from OpenAI and Microsoft. However, Google’s AI language model still tends to hallucinate and, according to Golem, does not always complete tasks accurately.

All providers are vying to enhance smartphones with AI features such as text suggestions and summarization, image recognition, and assistance with spreadsheets, presentations, and programming.

The expanded partnership with Vodafone comes at an opportune time for Google. However, smartphone manufacturers, individual markets, and their respective regulations must also cooperate for Google and Vodafone’s plans to succeed. Google has repeatedly faced antitrust lawsuits, most recently in the U.S. in early September 2024. This may also explain why the new AI offerings are initially limited to Europe and Africa.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which regions will Vodafone and Google’s new AI offerings be available in?

The new AI offerings will initially be available in selected countries across Europe and Africa. Other regions are not affected for now.

What does Google’s Gemini Advanced offering include as part of the partnership?

Gemini Advanced costs €22 per month and includes AI capabilities along with 2 terabytes of cloud storage. It will be offered through Vodafone in selected markets.

What role does Vertex AI play in Vodafone and Google’s collaboration?

Vodafone leverages Google’s Vertex AI via Google Cloud to accelerate the development and deployment of AI-powered services for both consumer and business customers.

What new service is Vodafone planning for business customers with Google?

Vodafone is planning a cloud-native security service for business customers, built on Google’s Security Operations platform.

Why is this partnership strategically important for Google?

The partnership helps Google expand the reach of its AI products, such as Gemini, across Europe and Africa – key markets in its competition with OpenAI and Microsoft.

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Source header image: unsplash / Solen Feyissa