New Delhi (PTI). Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab Google Research India will promote fundamental computer science and AI research. In addition to the Google team led by AI scientist Manish Gupta, the company will partner with the research community across the country to tackle challenges in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and education.

India will make a big contribution in AI

Google Vice President Caesar Sengupta said, 'We are incredibly inspired by India. With a world-class engineering talent pool, strong computer science programs and entrepreneurship, India has the potential to contribute to advances in AI and tackling grand challenges.' He said that the company is bringing new products as well as adding new features to existing products for people who are using the internet for the first time. Sengupta said at the 'Google For India' event, 'The future is not just about technology but about inclusion, empowerment and economic opportunity. India inspires us.

Make efforts to stop misuse of the system

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was present at the event, said that tech platforms like Google should ensure that their products are safe for users. “They should protect the privacy rights of individuals,” he said. Also, you have to make extra efforts to ensure that people do not abuse the system'.

Google Pay is growing rapidly

Sengupta said that under its Internet Saathi program with Tata Trusts, about 80,000 Saathis have been trained, who have trained 30 million women. Sengupta said that in the last 12 months, Google Pay's monthly active users have tripled to 67 million, driving transactions of over USD 110 billion between offline and online merchants on an annual basis. Nearly two-thirds of these transactions are from tier-II and -III cities and towns.

Google Pay is bringing a new platform

Google Pay, which competes with Paytm and PhonePe, is introducing 'Spot' platform that will help merchants provide branded commerce experiences and reach new customers. Google has already onboarded companies like EarlyClap, Goibibo, MakeMyTrip, RedBus, Eat.fit and Oven Story through its own Early Access programme.

Will be able to make payment on phone with digital token

Additionally, Google Pay is releasing 'token cards' over the next few weeks to provide a secure way to pay for things using digital tokens on the phone instead of the actual card number. Token cards on Google Pay – already available in some countries across the world – will be rolled out along with Visa cards for banks like HDFC, Axis, Kotak and Standard Chartered etc. “We will expand this facility to MasterCard and RuPay with more banks in the coming months,” Sengupta said.

Google Pay For Business for small merchants

He said that Google Pay is going to be helpful for small businesses through a new app called 'Google Pay For Business'. It is a free app for small and medium-sized merchants to enable digital payments where the verification process is done remotely. Despite the huge growth in digital payments, a large portion of India's over 60 million small businesses are still not able to take advantage of the growing digital economy. “We hope that these initiatives will help merchants adopt digital payments with greater confidence and drive the long-term growth of online financial services,” he said.

'Jobs' for job seekers

Google has also launched 'Jobs' as a 'Spot' on Google Pay to help job seekers find and prepare for entry-level vacancies. “Since many small merchants are present on Google Pay, it provides an easy mechanism to connect with potential employees,” Sengupta said. Machine learning is used to recommend jobs and training materials to help job seekers prepare for interviews and learn new skills'. Google is also launching Job Spot with 24 initial partners in retail such as Seven and Healthkart, delivery and logistics partners such as Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo and hospitality service providers such as Fabhotels. Additionally, it is partnering with the National Skill Development Council for the Skill India Programme.

Google's partnership with BSNL and Vodafone-Idea

Google said it is partnering with state-run BSNL to bring high-speed public WiFi to villages in Gujarat, Bihar and Maharashtra. It had previously worked with RailTel to provide WiFi services at 400 train stations in the country. It also announced its collaboration with Vodafone Idea for the 'Vodafone-Idea Phone Line', to enable the telecom company's 2G customers to access information without using data. Users can call a toll-free number to get answers to questions ranging from scoreboard to traffic conditions or to get help with homework. This service, supported by Google Assistant, will be available in Hindi and English.