Artificial intelligence alone can add $500 billion to economy: Google India

The company has committed $10 billion for expanding India's digital footprint, a top official said.

FILE PHOTO: After the company announced it would extend its coronavirus work-from-home order until summer 2021, a Google sign is shown at one of the company's office complexes in Irvine, California, U.S., July 27, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo (REUTERS)

Google India on Thursday said artificial intelligence alone can add USD 500 billion to the economy, and assist in better forecast of floods and accurate diagnosis of diseases.

The company has committed USD 10 billion for expanding India's digital footprint, a top official said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted us to use every tool at our disposal to address the challenges and opportunities before us," Google India Country Manager & VP, Sajay Gupta, said at the 'ABP Infocom - The Next Normal'.

Google had recently picked up a 7.73 per cent stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) digital subsidiary, Jio Platforms Ltd. The two companies have also announced plans to come up with "an entry-level affordable smartphone".

Gupta said during the pandemic, data consumption jumped to 14 GB per month from 8 GB. In 2014, the average consumption was just 86 MB per month, he added.

The senior company official said by 2022, UPI transactions will reach the one-billion-a-day mark from around a billion per month at present.