Training and projects for growth

?? I think for all of us, the last 2-3 months have been like an avalanche of innovation and it feels like we could use a bit of time to reflect.

??We understand that AI raises complex questions that need a collaborative approach to be able to answer, with companies, governments, civil society. To get AI right, we need collaboration across the industry. Which is why we’ve developed partnerships across the industry and civil society focused on research, transparency and safety including:?

• Frontier Model Forum: Together with Anthropic, Microsoft and OpenAI, Google launched the Frontier Model Forum to ensure the safe and responsible development of frontier AI models.
• Partnership on AI: We joined the Partnership on AI (PAI), as part of a community of experts dedicated to fostering responsible practices in the development, creation, and sharing of media created with generative AI.
• MLCommons: We are part of MLCommons, a collective that aims to accelerate machine learning innovation and increase its positive impact on society.

? Across our platforms, we’ve also recently launched technology and tools to provide users with more information about the content they engage with online:?

• SynthID: a tool in beta from Google DeepMind, directly embeds a digital watermark into AI-generated images and audio.
• Ads disclosures: We were the first tech company to require election advertisers to prominently disclose when their ads include realistic synthetic content that’s been digitally altered or generated, including by AI tools.
• Content labels: YouTube will require creators to disclose when they’ve created realistic altered or synthetic content, and will display a label that indicates for people when the content they’re watching is synthetic.
• Additional context:
• About this Result: provides context in SGE, and our double-check feature in Gemini enables people to evaluate whether there’s content across the web to substantiate Gemini’s English language response.
• About this image: in Search helps people assess the credibility and context of images found online.

?? We look forward to continuing to expand these efforts, and are pleased to join the C2PA , this standard will play an important role in helping users understand key aspects of authenticity for content shared online.??

Among the projects we launched in the last months, I want to highlight a few:

????Google announced an ongoing project for implementing cyber security seminars, where a dedicated grant will be available for Romania -? up to $1 million in funding, available through Google.org and providing access to Google's technology and expertise. The results will be announced at the end of March this year. It will be a huge opportunity for Romania to improve cyber security skills. Students who participate in the courses will gain real-world experience in cyber security by making a tangible impact on local communities via activities such as internship placements, mentorship, and hackathons.?

?? Google is also partnering with the National Institute of Administration to contribute to developing specialised training for the public sector to teach practical skills, but also enhancing basic digital knowledge. The training could fuel the rapid digital transformation of Romania and expand job opportunities for people in IT. The training and workshops would be focused around digital upskilling for the public sector, AI for entrepreneurs and students or online safety, among others.?

?? Internet safety is a priority every day and beyond the explicit security provided by our products, we believe it is our responsibility to support online security education. For companies, we offer courses to help entrepreneurs improve the online security of their business; and for people, educational resources through Google Certificates for Careers, Cyber security.

?? Be Internet Awesome is one of our favourite projects through which we help children to be confident explorers of the online world. The project provides a dedicated curriculum for educators and teachers to explore online safety in the classroom. Together with ADFABER , in the 3 years of collaboration, we trained more than 28 thousand teachers, and more than 1 million students benefited from at least one hour of online safety.

A new EUR 25 million commitment from Google.org in 2024 to support AI training and skills for people across Europe - with a particular focus on vulnerable and underserved communities. We’ll start by equipping workers at risk of being left behind with the skills they need to use AI tools in the workplace through our EUR 10 million Google.org AI Opportunity Fund: Europe . The Google.org team is looking for applications e.g. from nonprofits and social enterprises, trade unions, professional associations and bodies who have the track record in reaching workers, particularly those most at risk of workforce transitions. Organisations will receive tailored bespoke training for the workers in their network on foundational AI courses (designed by Google and external) as well as cash grants to facilitate the learning process. Please refer interested local contacts to the application site .

A new series of Google for Startups Growth Academies to drive growth for startups in Europe, Middle East and Africa; with applications for the Growth Academy: AI for Health open now. Please encourage local startups to apply. This series of programs is dedicated to supporting startups that are using AI technology to solve society’s biggest challenges, like health, education and cyber security. It helps founders from high-potential AI startups to grow their user base, scale and go global by providing Google’s products, best practices, and connections to experts in the healthcare and well-being industry.

?? Google remains committed to enhancing digital transformation in Romania by making available cutting-edge technologies, advanced innovative solutions and infrastructure, especially cloud, as well as sharing expertise and best practices on increasing Romania’s capabilities on cyber resilience.?