FTSE 100 leader Vodafone and Google expand AI partnership
Vodafone and Google announced a ten year strategic expansion of their existing partnership which will bring new AI-powered services to Vodafone’s customers in Europe and Africa.
The agreement will mean Vodafone’s customers in 15 countries – as well as partners in 45 more – will see additional storage, security features and AI assistance.
Vodafone will expand access to Google’s AI-powered Pixel devices and continue promoting Android, while new AI tools will help its TV become “ever more personalised and engaging”.
By 2025, the telecoms giant will also be able to offer Google One AI Premium subscription plans, including Gemini Advanced.
The deal will also allow Vodafone to expand its partnership with Google Cloud to build on its existing private data repository.
Google said it will use Vodafone’s mobile connectivity services to “improve workforce productivity”.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s boss, said: “Together, Vodafone and Google will put new AI-powered content and devices into the hands of millions of more consumers.
“Using these services, our customers can discover new ways to learn, create and communicate, as well as consume TV, on a scale we haven’t seen before,” Della Valle added.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said he was “excited to see how Vodafone’s consumers, small businesses and governments, will use generative AI and Google Cloud to transform the way they work and access information.”
Both companies said they intend to promote the use of “universal industry standards” to help push responsible AI use and promote online safety.
The firms also committed to championing interoperability, to help drive economies of scale, boost innovation and improve public services.