Vodafone and Alphabet "renew" ten-year cooperation to promote AI smartphones and services

According to the financial news app Zhitong Finance, global telecommunications giant Vodafone (VOD.US) and Google under Alphabet (GOOGL.US) announced today a strategic expansion of their existing partnership for a period of ten years. With the support of Google Cloud and the Gemini AI chatbot, Vodafone will bring new services, devices, and TV experiences to millions of customers in Europe and Africa.

Vodafone will promote Google's cloud storage subscription services, including the Google One AI Premium service with access to the Gemini chatbot. Vodafone stated that it will expand the access of Google AI Pixel devices in Europe through its 5G network and continue to promote the Android ecosystem. The UK-based operator will also demonstrate to customers how to use the latest AI features of Pixel devices in stores.

In its statement, Vodafone mentioned that it will leverage Google's technology to enhance the search, recommendation, and advertising targeting features of its Vodafone TV Box service, and develop a new cloud network security product for enterprise users. Vodafone will also utilize Google Cloud's enterprise AI platform as part of expanding the partnership.

Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, stated: "Part of it is that as AI becomes more prominent on devices, the nature of devices and the nature of the experiences people have on devices will change." Google and Vodafone are working to "make it extremely easy for people to experience these and make purchasing decisions."

Margherita Della Valle, CEO of Vodafone Group, said: "Vodafone and Google will work together to deliver new AI content and devices to millions of consumers. Through these services, our customers can discover new ways to learn, create, and communicate, as well as watch TV on an unprecedented scale."

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, stated: "Expanding our partnership with Vodafone will help bring our most advanced AI products and services (including our Gemini model) to more people in Europe and Africa. I am excited to see how Vodafone's consumers, small businesses, and governments will use generative AI and Google Cloud to change how they work and access information."

Telecom operators have been focusing on diversifying revenue sources by providing digital services beyond connectivity. In this process, they are trying to emulate the successful experiences of large tech giants, which have accumulated huge profits when many operators were struggling.

Global tech companies are competing to attract customers to use new generative AI features to upgrade their phones. Companies like Apple (AAPL.US), Google, and Samsung have all introduced a set of AI-driven visual, text, and audio features. Google is engaged in an AI competition with companies like OpenAI, with support from Microsoft (MSFT.US) and NVIDIA (NVDA.US)