Latest news with #ShekarKhosla
Indian Express
27-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Google's Gemini app surpasses 450M monthly active users amid AI push in India
Google's Gemini app now has more than 450 million monthly active users (MAU) with daily usage of the AI chatbot app growing by more than 50 per cent from the previous quarter. These figures were revealed by Shekar Khosla, the vice president of marketing and site lead at Google India, in a post on LinkedIn on Friday, July 25. 'The numbers say it all! @GeminiApp momentum is growing,' he said. The increase in the Gemini app's MAU count comes weeks after Google announced that Indian students aged 18 years and above are eligible for free access to its premium AI Pro subscription plan, which otherwise costs Rs 19,500 per year. The student offer is valid until September 15, 2025. As part of the subscription package, users get access to the latest AI models developed by the tech giant such as Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Research as well as its AI video generator, Veo 3. It also offers expanded access to AI tools such as Flow, Notebook LM, etc. Google, at its I/O Connect India 2025 event held earlier this month, announced a slew of new initiatives and AI capabilities to assist the Indian developer and startup ecosystems. The company announced collaborations with three startups, Soket AI, Sarvam, and Gnani, to facilitate the development of sovereign foundational AI models under the IndiaAI mission. With the Gemini app, Google is going head-to-head with OpenAI's ChatGPT app which is widely considered to be the dominant player in the AI chatbot landscape. The ChatGPT app is estimated to have around 600 million MAUs, according to court filings that were released in March this year. The Gemini app still has some ground left to cover, but it is quickly gaining traction. Ahead of its annual I/O developer conference in May 2025, CEO Sundar Pichai had revealed that the Gemini AI app has more than 400 million MAUs. While Gemini may be drawing away users from ChatGPT in the app space, OpenAI's popular AI chatbot poses a serious threat to Google's core search business. The Microsoft-backed startup recently said it receives 2.5 billion prompts from users around the world every day, with more than 300 million of those prompts coming from users in the US, according to a report by Axios. Meanwhile, Perplexity has also emerged as a strong contender as well. Recently, it overtook ChatGPT to become the top app on Apple App Store in India. This development took place just a few days after the AI search startup, led by IIT Madras graduate Aravind Srinivas, announced free Perplexity Pro subscriptions for a year to eligible customers of Indian telco Bharti Airtel.
Economic Times
25-04-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Google Gemini, a collaborator to fulfil humans' creative desire, curiosity: VP Shekar Khosla
Google Gemini, the generative artificial intelligence tool of technology major Google, can be a great collaborator for humans in fulfilling their creative desire and curiosity - from creating customized videos just on a basis of a prompt, classes for students, troubleshooting through visuals, converting reports into a podcast for simple understanding, and what not. The use cases are Gemini showcased some of its tools today at an event in the national capital, offering firsthand experiences to tech enthusiasts and media personnel. Google shared Gemini's top use cases in India, spanning diverse needs: simplifying complex information, offering 'how-to' guides, generating creative ideas, assisting with writing, and even culinary exploration. Speaking to ANI, Shekar Khosla, Vice President of Marketing, Google India, explained how these tools can become a collaborator for people. "Those who have adopted these AI tools say their productivity levels have risen, creativity improved, and confidence has elevated," Khosla told ANI. He cited an example about a boy who prepared for his first job interview through Google Gemini. He mentioned another teacher who utilised Google Gemini to prepare lessons for the students, a mother who makes learning fun for her children, and a retiree who uses AI for filing income tax returns. "Google Gemini is adding value in the day-to-day activities of people by becoming a collaborator," he said. "This is not a replacement for humans. It is human augmentation. Humans will always be deciding when to use, how to use, and where to use it. And that is what Google Gemini," Shekar Khosla Gemini particularly showcased five new, powerful features:Gemini's advanced users can now generate high-resolution, eight-second videos using its state-of-the-art Veo 2 model. Simply describe the scene you want, and bring your ideas to life on screen. This builds on our powerful image capabilities - powered by our Imagen 3 model, helping you generate richer detail and higher-quality images in various styles directly from your text prompts. For refining text or code, Canvas tool offers a new interactive workspace within Gemini. Need to work through the logic for a new app or 'vibe code' a new game together? Collaborate directly with Gemini in this interactive space, iterating easily with changes appearing in real-time, making Gemini feel like a true coding beyond text and voice. With Gemini Live, Android users can now talk to Gemini and show things via live video or screen sharing. Imagine the exciting possibilities: point your camera at a cluttered space for instant organization help, get instant advice on an outfit by showing your wardrobe, troubleshoot a problem visually, brainstorm based on your surroundings, or even get feedback on your work by sharing your screen. You can save hours on research. Use Deep Research (powered by our most intelligent model, Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental) to get comprehensive reports synthesizing information from across the web in minutes. Gemini even shows its 'thinking' process as it researches. Google Gemini users can learn on the go with Podcast-Style audio can also instantly convert documents or research into a personalized podcast. Gemini's Audio Overview features two AI hosts who discuss your content, summarizing, connecting ideas, and offering perspectives in an engaging audio format for easy learning on the another tool, you can upload your materials, get summaries, ask questions, and transform information into formats like audio discussions. These features, combined with ongoing advancements, truly bring Google's vision of a helpful, personal AI collaborator to life, ready to assist in ways that uniquely benefit all, the technology major believes. Manish Gupta, Senior Director, Google Deepmind said "Gemini represents Google's most state-of-the-art AI models designed to push boundaries, enabling experiences that were previously unimaginable - for instance, creating video with Veo 2 or having interactive intuitive conversations with Gemini Live. We're continuing to push the envelope in our goal to build a truly personal, helpful AI assistant for everyone." Separately, Google and Kantar released a study to understand Gen AI adoption, potential, and impact among people in India, surveying over 8,000 people across 18 cities. The study found that while AI excitement is high, it's still early days for adoption: 60% aren't familiar with AI, and only 31% have tried any Generative AI tool. The research also showed a strong, innate desire among Indians to improve and excel, with the majority seeking to boost productivity (72%), enhance creativity (77%), and communicate more effectively (73%) in their daily lives. On average, 75% of Indians desire a daily growth study underlines the massive headroom for Gen-AI adoption in India, people's desire to use such tools to excel in life, and how Google Gemini is helping Indians boost their confidence and capabilities. Gen AI tools like Gemini are increasingly meeting this desire of a collaborative guide.
The Print
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Print
Google Gemini a collaborator to fulfil humans' creative desire, curiosity: Shekar Khosla, VP Mktg, Google India
Google Gemini showcased some of its tools today at an event in the national capital, offering firsthand experiences to tech enthusiasts and media personnel. New Delhi [India], April 25 (ANI): Google Gemini, the generative artificial intelligence tool of technology major Google, can be a great collaborator for humans in fulfilling their creative desire and curiosity – from creating customized videos just on a basis of a prompt, classes for students, troubleshooting through visuals, converting reports into a podcast for simple understanding, and what not. The use cases are endless. Google shared Gemini's top use cases in India, spanning diverse needs: simplifying complex information, offering 'how-to' guides, generating creative ideas, assisting with writing, and even culinary exploration. Speaking to ANI, Shekar Khosla, Vice President of Marketing, Google India, explained how these tools can become a collaborator for people. 'Those who have adopted these AI tools say their productivity levels have risen, creativity improved, and confidence has elevated,' Khosla told ANI. He cited an example about a boy who prepared for his first job interview through Google Gemini. He mentioned another teacher who utilised Google Gemini to prepare lessons for the students, a mother who makes learning fun for her children, and a retiree who uses AI for filing income tax returns. 'Google Gemini is adding value in the day-to-day activities of people by becoming a collaborator,' he said. 'This is not a replacement for humans. It is human augmentation. Humans will always be deciding when to use, how to use, and where to use it. And that is what Google Gemini,' Shekar Khosla said. Google Gemini particularly showcased five new, powerful features: Gemini's advanced users can now generate high-resolution, eight-second videos using its state-of-the-art Veo 2 model. Simply describe the scene you want, and bring your ideas to life on screen. This builds on our powerful image capabilities – powered by our Imagen 3 model, helping you generate richer detail and higher-quality images in various styles directly from your text prompts. For refining text or code, Canvas tool offers a new interactive workspace within Gemini. Need to work through the logic for a new app or 'vibe code' a new game together? Collaborate directly with Gemini in this interactive space, iterating easily with changes appearing in real-time, making Gemini feel like a true coding partner. Going beyond text and voice. With Gemini Live, Android users can now talk to Gemini and show things via live video or screen sharing. Imagine the exciting possibilities: point your camera at a cluttered space for instant organization help, get instant advice on an outfit by showing your wardrobe, troubleshoot a problem visually, brainstorm based on your surroundings, or even get feedback on your work by sharing your screen. You can save hours on research. Use Deep Research (powered by our most intelligent model, Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental) to get comprehensive reports synthesizing information from across the web in minutes. Gemini even shows its 'thinking' process as it researches. Google Gemini users can learn on the go with Podcast-Style audio overviews. You can also instantly convert documents or research into a personalized podcast. Gemini's Audio Overview features two AI hosts who discuss your content, summarizing, connecting ideas, and offering perspectives in an engaging audio format for easy learning on the move. In another tool, you can upload your materials, get summaries, ask questions, and transform information into formats like audio discussions. These features, combined with ongoing advancements, truly bring Google's vision of a helpful, personal AI collaborator to life, ready to assist in ways that uniquely benefit all, the technology major believes. Manish Gupta, Senior Director, Google Deepmind said 'Gemini represents Google's most state-of-the-art AI models designed to push boundaries, enabling experiences that were previously unimaginable – for instance, creating video with Veo 2 or having interactive intuitive conversations with Gemini Live. We're continuing to push the envelope in our goal to build a truly personal, helpful AI assistant for everyone.' Separately, Google and Kantar released a study to understand Gen AI adoption, potential, and impact among people in India, surveying over 8,000 people across 18 cities. The study found that while AI excitement is high, it's still early days for adoption: 60 per cent aren't familiar with AI, and only 31 per cent have tried any Generative AI tool. The research also showed a strong, innate desire among Indians to improve and excel, with the majority seeking to boost productivity (72 per cent), enhance creativity (77 per cent), and communicate more effectively (73 per cent) in their daily lives. On average, 75 per cent of Indians desire a daily growth collaborator. The study underlines the massive headroom for Gen-AI adoption in India, people's desire to use such tools to excel in life, and how Google Gemini is helping Indians boost their confidence and capabilities. Gen AI tools like Gemini are increasingly meeting this desire of a collaborative guide. (ANI) This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
The Print
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Print
75% Indians desire a daily growth collaborator: Google-Kantar report
The study found that while AI excitement is high, it's still early days for adoption: 60 per cent aren't familiar with AI, and only 31 per cent have tried any Generative AI tool. New Delhi [India], April 25 (ANI): Google and Kantar released a study to understand Gen AI adoption, potential, and impact among people in India, surveying over 8,000 people across 18 cities. The research also showed a strong, innate desire among Indians to improve and excel, with the majority seeking to boost productivity (72 per cent), enhance creativity (77 per cent), and communicate more effectively (73 per cent) in their daily lives. On average, 75 per cent of Indians desire a daily growth collaborator. The study underlines the massive headroom for Gen-AI adoption in India, people's desire to use such tools to excel in life, and how Google Gemini is helping Indians boost their confidence and capabilities. Gen AI tools like Gemini are increasingly meeting this desire of a collaborative guide. Google is seeing significant positive impact among early adopters: 92 per cent of Gemini users report a boost in confidence, 93 per cent report it has supercharged their productivity, 85 per cent Gemini users in India feel it helps spark their creativity, among other benefits. Google also unveiled new Gemini features enabled by Google's best, state-of-the-art AI models. This includes Veo 2 in Gemini helping people generate stunning videos straight from their ideas, Gemini Live with Video enabling users to have natural, back-and-forth visual conversations about the world around them using just their camera, and new capabilities with Gemini's Canvas, Deep Research and Audio Overviews features. Manish Gupta, Senior Director, Google Deepmind said 'Gemini represents Google's most state-of-the-art AI models designed to push boundaries, enabling experiences that were previously unimaginable – for instance, creating video with Veo 2 or having interactive intuitive conversations with Gemini Live. We're continuing to push the envelope in our goal to build a truly personal, helpful AI assistant for everyone.' Shekar Khosla, Vice President, Marketing, Google India said 'We're seeing Gemini make a difference in how they feel about their own capabilities, with 92% of Gemini users feeling more confident in their daily lives. Our focus with Gemini has always been to harness Google's leading innovation to build a truly personal, helpful AI assistant for everyone, and we're glad to see that come alive in so many meaningful ways across ages, cities, needs, and languages.' The majority of the people surveyed are seeking personal efficiency, with 72 per cent expressing the need to be more productive in their daily lives. While 77 per cent want to be more creative, 73 per cent want to communicate more effectively. People face hurdles like constant time pressures, frustrating creative blocks, and challenges expressing themselves clearly, impacting confidence and opportunities. Crucially, this desire extends beyond work or school: 76 per cent want to save time on everyday tasks like planning travel or managing budgets, and 84 per cent want to be more creative with everyday tasks like helping kids with homework or trying recipes. Common roadblocks often prevent progress, such as simply getting started, a struggle for 68 per cent, or lacking necessary skills and guidance, which holds back 52 per cent. 'These aren't minor frustrations; they can sometimes have real costs, often stopping people from pursuing goals altogether, with 61 per cent of Indians reporting they abandoned a professional or creative aspiration due to such hurdles,' they said in a statement. Beyond these bigger goals, this daily friction also sometimes saps confidence – for instance, 73 per cent worry about how their message or tone comes across – and prevents people from fully pursuing everyday passions, like trying new recipes, where 71 per cent feel blocked, or planning desired travel, which 67 per cent find hindering. Gemini impact among early adopters: 92 per cent of Gemini users report feeling more confident, with particularly high impact among Gen Z (94 per cent), Students (95 per cent), and Women (94 per cent). Gemini users also report significant tangible benefits across the board. 93 per cent report Gemini boosted their efficiency and task management, while 85 per cent feel it helps spark new ideas and unlock creative expression. Communication is enhanced for 94 per cent, who report Gemini helps them express themselves clearly and effectively. Furthermore, 80 per cent report Gemini has helped with complex decision-making or expert guidance, 69 per cent say it supported their skill development and learning journey, and 77 per cent found it helped them pursue a new creative or professional pursuit. Google also shared Gemini's top use cases in India spanning across diverse needs: simplifying complex information, offering 'how-to' guides, generating creative ideas, assisting with writing, and even culinary exploration. (ANI) This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
India Today
25-04-2025
- Business
- India Today
Google says in India only 31 per cent have tried Gen AI tool, most want AI to help them get more creative
In a report on Gen AI use in India, Google and research agency Kantar says that around 31 per cent Indians have so far tried apps like Google Gemini, ChatGPT and Deepseek. To put it another way, around 60 per cent are either not aware of these tools or have not tried them yet. But in the report, which is based on a n18-city survey of 8000 people, Google also notes that a lot of people in India do want to make AI tools part of their daily life. advertisementThe motivations for such desires are many, with most respondents hoping that AI tools like Gemini would help them be more productive and more creative. Google in its study notes that while AI excitement is high, it's still early days for adoption. So far only 31 per cent have tried any Generative AI tool, notes Google. The Google-Kantar report notes that 'the research also showed a strong, innate desire among Indians to improve and excel, with the majority seeking to boost productivity (72 per cent), enhance creativity (77 per cent), and communicate more effectively (73 per cent) in their daily lives' using the Gen AI tools. On Friday, Google also showcased its latest AI tools to an audience in India, highlighting the strong performances of reasoning models like Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) and Veo 2, which is a text-to-video AI tool. advertisementManish Gupta, senior director at Google Deepmind, said 'Gemini represents Google's most state-of-the-art AI models designed to push boundaries, enabling experiences that were previously unimaginable – for instance, creating video with Veo 2 or having interactive intuitive conversations with Gemini Live. We're continuing to push the envelope in our goal to build a truly personal, helpful AI assistant for everyone.'Shekar Khosla, vice president of marketing at Google India, noted: 'We're seeing Gemini make a difference in how they feel about their own capabilities, with 92 per cent of Gemini users feeling more confident in their daily lives.'Google report notes that in India, the majority of people are interested in using AI to increase personal efficiency. Of the 8000 respondents, 72 per cent expressed the need to be more productive in their daily lives with the help of AI. At the same time, around 77 per cent wanted to be more creative and 73 per cent wanted to communicate more effectively. One interesting bit that Google found was that people were not only hoping to use AI at work, but also for personal tasks. The report notes that 76 per cent respondent hoped to save time on everyday tasks like planning travel or managing budgets with AI tools while 84 per cent wanted to be more creative with everyday tasks like helping kids with homework or trying In
