Just the other day, Google finally unveiled its highly-anticipated response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT (clearly, the first release of Bard didn’t quite measure up, did it?). The new set of generative AI models that Google is calling “the dawn of the Gemini era” will not yet be available in Europe due to regulatory challenges.
The tech giant is hailing Gemini as the “most powerful model ever” and claims it has been trained to recognize, comprehend, and integrate various types of information including text, images, audio, video, and code.
According to Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, it is as good as the best human experts in the 50 different disciplines they evaluated the model on. It scored over 90% on industry standard benchmarks for large language models (LLMs).
The 3 models of the Gemini AI family
The Gemini family of models will be available in three sizes. Gemini Ultra is the largest (but also slowest), designed to perform incredibly complex tasks; Gemini Pro the best-performing for a wide range of tasks; and Gemini Nano for on-device tasks.
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Google says it has trained Gemini 1.0 on its AI-optimized infrastructure using the company’s internal Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) v4 and v5e. In addition to unveiling the Gemini family, Google also announced the Cloud TPU v5p, which is specifically designed for training advanced AI models.
Google’s TPU v5p is designed specifically for training advanced AI models. Credit: Google
What is truly a breakthrough in LLM application is perhaps the Nano, optimized for mobile devices. As told to the Financial Times, Nano will enable developers to build AI applications that can also work offline– with the added benefits of enhanced data privacy options.
As outlined in greater detail by the company in a blog post, Google is also providing the AI Studio– a free, web-based developer tool to prototype and deploy apps using an API key. It will make Gemini Pro available to developers and enterprise customers from December 13.
Just as for Bard, Europe will need to wait for Gemini
A “refined” version of Gemini Pro rolled out for Google’s existing Bard chatbot yesterday in 170 countries and regions. The company says it will also be available across more of its services, such as Search, Ads, and Chrome, in the coming months.
Users in the EU and the UK eager to test the mettle of Google’s “new era” of AI will have to wait a little bit longer. Google did not provide detailed information, but said it is planning to ”expand to different approaches and support new languages and regions in the future.”
