Vodafone, Google deepen AI ties across Europe, Africa

(Reuters) - Britain’s Vodafone said on Tuesday it has deepened its strategic partnership with Alphabet’s Google in a ten-year, billion dollar plus deal that will bring the U.S. tech giant’s new generative AI-powered devices to customers across Europe and Africa.

Vodafone said it would expand access to Google’s artificial intelligence-powered Pixel devices with its 5G network in Europe and would continue promoting the Android ecosystem. 

Global technology companies are competing to lure customers to upgrade their phones using new generative AI features, with the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung offering a suite of visual, text and audio features powered by AI.   

Vodafone will offer Google One AI Premium subscription plans, which include Gemini Advanced, in certain countries by 2025, it said.

Vodafone will also use Google Cloud’s enterprise-ready AI platform as part of the expanded partnership.

Google is in an AI race with companies such as OpenAI, which is backed by the likes of Microsoft and NVIDIA.        

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)