Vodafone partners with Google for AI and phones

Image credit: Vodafone Group

Vodafone Group and Google have signed a 10-year billion dollar deal to provide Google Cloud services, devices, and generative AI tools to Vodafone customers across Europe and Africa.

In a statement, Vodafone said the agreement will bring storage, security, and AI assistance to its customers across 15 markets, and 45 additional partner markets. In practice, this means Vodafone will offer subscriptions to YouTube products, cloud storage, and AI plans from Google One, as well as Google’s Pixel smartphone range and other Android devices.

Vodafone will also use Google’s enterprise platform Vertex AI to build, deploy, and scale machine learning models and AI applications powered by Google’s Gemini models. Vodafone explained that this enables its operating units to create and launch new products.

Google will provide its workforce with Vodafone fixed and mobile connectivity services.

Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle (pictured, left) said: “Together, Vodafone and Google will put new AI-powered content and devices into the hands of millions more consumers. Using these services, our customers can discover new ways to learn, create, and communicate, as well as consume TV, on a scale we haven’t seen before.”

Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured, right) added: “Our expanded partnership with Vodafone will help bring our most advanced AI products and services, including our Gemini models, to more people across Europe and Africa.”

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