Latest news with #PreetiLobana
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Google inaugurates first Asia-Pacific safety engineering centre in Hyderabad
Google India's Country Manager and Vice President Preeti Lobana speaks at 'Safer with Google India Summit', in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Vijay Varma) Google has launched its first Google Safety Engineering Centre (GSEC) India in Hyderabad. This is first such facility of the company in the Asia-Pacific region and fourth globally. Inaugurated on June 17 by Telangana CM Anumula Revanth Reddy, and IT Minister D. Sridhar Babu the centre is part of Google's broader mission to advance AI safety , cybersecurity , and user protection amid India's rapidly evolving digital landscape . GSEC India is poised to become an operational core where Google's global safety expertise will translate into tangible solutions. It brings together diverse teams focused on privacy and security engineering, alongside advanced cybersecurity capabilities, under one strategic umbrella to address India's unique and evolving digital landscape. The center will operationalize the three foundational pillars of Google's recently unveiled Safety Charter for India's AI-led Transformation: Keeping end users safe from online fraud and scams. Strengthening cybersecurity for government and enterprise infrastructure. Building AI responsibly. Beyond India, GSEC India will also serve as a regional hub for developing and deploying safety solutions across the broader Asia-Pacific region. Preeti Lobana, country manager and vice president, Google India, emphasised the importance of trust in the digital ecosystem. "For India's digital engine to keep growing and powering its ambitious future, we must keep building trust in how users and enterprises access the digital landscape," Lobana stated. She added that the GSEC India launch brings Google's global experience, from cutting-edge AI to foundational cybersecurity, to realize this commitment, calling for ecosystem-wide collaboration. Google plans to implement advanced technologies such as Gemini Nano for scam detection, SynthID to watermark AI-generated content, and enhance real-time threat monitoring across Google Pay, Gmail, and Search. The centre also supports post-quantum cryptography research in collaboration with IIT-Madras. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Super important, very critical: Google India head on tackling misinformation, deepfakes in AI era
New technologies like AI have opened massive opportunities but pose challenges like deepfakes , Google India 's Country Manager and Vice President Preeti Lobana said asserting that fighting misinformation remains a top priority for the tech giant, which relies on strong policies, advanced AI technology , and human oversight to address these issues systematically. The Asia Pacific region is particularly seeing higher degree of scams/frauds and misinformation has been a challenge, she said adding Google is stepping up its efforts to curb misleading and fake content. Noting that Google last year had announced plans for launching 'Google Safety Engineering Centre' in India, Lobana termed the move "imminent". "This (tackling misinformation) is super important for us, when you think about our mission, about information being universally accessible and organising it in a certain way, making sure that we are tackling misinformation in a very systematic manner is very, very critical. So...(it is about) having the right policies and guidelines, having the right technology, having the right human oversight to make sure that we are catching misinformation," she said. With innovations like SynthID for watermarking and verifying AI-generated content, Google is also working with partners to strengthen content authenticity and trust. "...we're introducing innovation like SynthID, so when any content is created using some of Google's AI tools, there is an invisible watermark, and it's pretty strong technology, because even if it is shared across multiple people or edited, it is detectable," she said. Google has also introduced a SynthID verifier that allows users to upload content and detect whether or not a video is synthetic or AI generated. Pointing out that fight against misinformation is always a work in progress she said Google is collaborating with other stakeholders in the ecosystem as well on provenance and authenticity. " These are our efforts. The ecosystem needs to come together, but it is deeply important to us to make sure that we are combating that," she said. Noting that Google had announced last year plans to launch Google Safety Engineering Centre in India, Lobana termed the move "imminent". On Tuesday, the company also unveiled Google Safety Charter for India's AI-led transformation. As per Google, the charter is a blueprint for tackling the online world's new challenges collaboratively with the wider ecosystem. This includes keeping the end user safe from online frauds and scams; cybersecurity for government and enterprise infrastructure; and building AI responsibly. Lobana said while AI, like other technologies in the past, had unlocked creative potential, it had fuelled a surge in misinformation and deepfakes. "Therefore our effort is to make sure that whatever content is created using our AI, there are watermarks on that, and then (the idea is) enabling and sharing tools through which a wider section of users can upload some of this content to be able to identify it. But like I said, it is about working with a broader ecosystem as well, because multiple AIs are used to generate some of this content," she said. Combating misinformation and deepfakes is a work in progress and an area of deep focus for not just Google, but others in the industry, Lobana noted.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Google move to make digital space safer
New Delhi: Google on Tuesday announced a major initiative to make India's digital space safer by unveiling its new 'Safety Charter' during the 'Safer with Google India Summit'. Google's 'Digikavach' programme, a key part of the initiative, has already reached over 17.7 crore Indians with AI-powered tools and awareness campaigns against financial scams. Google's Search now identifies 20 times more scam websites, and scam attacks on customer service and government platforms have dropped by 80 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively. On the messaging side, Google Messages is blocking over 500 million scam texts every Pay, which is widely used in India, has sent out over 4.1 crore alerts to warn users about possible frauds. It also helped prevent fraud worth Rs 13,000 crore in 2024 alone. The company's app safety system, Google Play Protect, has blocked nearly 6 crore risky app installs across 1.3 crore devices since it was piloted in India in October which is used by billions globally, is automatically stopping more than 99.9 per cent of spam, phishing attempts and malware. Google is also working to strengthen cybersecurity on a larger scale. To further support the ecosystem, has pledged $20 million to expand the Asia-Pacific Cybersecurity Fund, including $5 million to The Asia will help set up 10 new cyberclinics in the region and partner with Indian universities to train students and small businesses in digital safety. Another key partnership was announced with IIT-Madras to advance Post-Quantum Cryptography. Preeti Lobana, Vice President and Country Manager for Google India, said that building trust in India's digital infrastructure is crucial to the country's development added that Google's AI systems are already able to detect never-before-seen scams and attacks, giving users an added layer of protection.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Google sees pockets growing at a fast clip: Country head Preeti Lobana
Macroeconomic uncertainties and a consumption slowdown may have had some impact on business, but Google continues to be "very bullish" on India and there are pockets which are growing at a fast clip, Google India country manager Preeti Lobana said Tuesday. Sectors that are growing exponentially include gaming, edtech, ecommerce and quick commerce , Lobana said in her first media interview after taking over as the tech giant's top India executive. She took over the role in January from Sanjay Gupta, who was promoted to Google's president for the Asia-Pacific region. "We have a bird's eye view on where the tension in the macroeconomic trends is leading to, so the consumption slowdown, you'll see that a little bit. But you equally see some of the other verticals that are not linked to consumption doing really well and growing users, getting the spend," she said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Top 25 Most Beautiful Women In The World Articles Vally Undo Lobana, who joined Google more than seven years ago after having previously worked at the NatWest Group, American Express, Standard Chartered Bank and ANZ Grindlays Bank, said she is "very bullish" on India, though "some of the challenges like supply chain and manufacturing that people are seeing may offer bumps". On the macro data factors that influence GDP, she said India may have faced challenges, but compared with some other countries, "we have done well". Live Events Google is betting big on the "One Google" strategy and artificial intelligence to grow its India business. These include a full stack of solutions, from ads to cloud to payments, for engagements with large and small customers alike, Lobana said. The company continues to invest heavily in India, including in products that are India-first, Lobana said. AI and cloud can help drive intelligence and efficiency for businesses here, she said. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories "The cutting-edge technology that we have, if Indian companies embrace and integrate that now, they have a two- three-year window for that productivity leap," Lobana said. "If we can do that, it'll be significant progress for India and for many of our big industry players because that's how they transform their supply chains, that's how they transform and get more efficiencies and effectiveness out of their customer service." On the run-ins with regulators over Android and Google Play's billing system, Lobana, without commenting on the specifics of the case, said the company is working with the government and regulators and is committed to growing the ecosystem. "(With) Play Store , the kind of opportunity it's given to developers in finding the right we keep that ecosystem safe and secure in this era of cyber fraud and all of that, that means that we have to have a business model," she said, adding that the model is evolving and Google is mindful of the country's context. Indian developers on the Play Store are raking in Rs 4,000 crore annually, with 84% of this revenue coming from outside the country, she said. The executive dismissed the threat from AI chatbots to Google's proprietary product, Search, saying it is not a "zero-sum game" - every time there has been a tech shift such as mobile (which threatened its ad business) or Tiktok, Instagram (which threatened YouTube), Google has adapted and come out stronger. The company is evolving its products to align with changing consumer preferences towards longer queries in the AI era - for instance, enabling more conversational and intuitive queries in Search, Lobana said. The AI mode is launching soon in India, she added. Google is also looking at how to partner with the government's IndiaAI Mission and is exploring how to bring its expertise to contribute to empowering the ecosystem and working with startups here, she said. The global leadership is betting on the Indian talent as well, said Lobana, adding that the India team has doubled since pre-Covid times, with leadership roles also growing.
Economic Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Google sees pockets growing at a fast clip: Country head Preeti Lobana
Macroeconomic uncertainties and a consumption slowdown may have had some impact on business, but Google continues to be "very bullish" on India and there are pockets which are growing at a fast clip, Google India country manager Preeti Lobana said Tuesday. Sectors that are growing exponentially include gaming, edtech, ecommerce and quick commerce, Lobana said in her first media interview after taking over as the tech giant's top India executive. She took over the role in January from Sanjay Gupta, who was promoted to Google's president for the Asia-Pacific region. "We have a bird's eye view on where the tension in the macroeconomic trends is leading to, so the consumption slowdown, you'll see that a little bit. But you equally see some of the other verticals that are not linked to consumption doing really well and growing users, getting the spend," she who joined Google more than seven years ago after having previously worked at the NatWest Group, American Express, Standard Chartered Bank and ANZ Grindlays Bank, said she is "very bullish" on India, though "some of the challenges like supply chain and manufacturing that people are seeing may offer bumps".On the macro data factors that influence GDP, she said India may have faced challenges, but compared with some other countries, "we have done well". Google is betting big on the "One Google" strategy and artificial intelligence to grow its India business. These include a full stack of solutions, from ads to cloud to payments, for engagements with large and small customers alike, Lobana said. The company continues to invest heavily in India, including in products that are India-first, Lobana said. AI and cloud can help drive intelligence and efficiency for businesses here, she said. "The cutting-edge technology that we have, if Indian companies embrace and integrate that now, they have a two- three-year window for that productivity leap," Lobana said. "If we can do that, it'll be significant progress for India and for many of our big industry players because that's how they transform their supply chains, that's how they transform and get more efficiencies and effectiveness out of their customer service."On the run-ins with regulators over Android and Google Play's billing system, Lobana, without commenting on the specifics of the case, said the company is working with the government and regulators and is committed to growing the ecosystem. "(With) Play Store, the kind of opportunity it's given to developers in finding the right we keep that ecosystem safe and secure in this era of cyber fraud and all of that, that means that we have to have a business model," she said, adding that the model is evolving and Google is mindful of the country's context. Indian developers on the Play Store are raking in Rs 4,000 crore annually, with 84% of this revenue coming from outside the country, she said. The executive dismissed the threat from AI chatbots to Google's proprietary product, Search, saying it is not a "zero-sum game" - every time there has been a tech shift such as mobile (which threatened its ad business) or Tiktok, Instagram (which threatened YouTube), Google has adapted and come out company is evolving its products to align with changing consumer preferences towards longer queries in the AI era - for instance, enabling more conversational and intuitive queries in Search, Lobana said. The AI mode is launching soon in India, she is also looking at how to partner with the government's IndiaAI Mission and is exploring how to bring its expertise to contribute to empowering the ecosystem and working with startups here, she global leadership is betting on the Indian talent as well, said Lobana, adding that the India team has doubled since pre-Covid times, with leadership roles also growing.
