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

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

The company has committed $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, Sanjay Gupta, said at the 'ABP Infocom - The Next Normal'.

Google recently picked up a 7.73 percent 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.

Tech giant Google saw its India revenues grow 34.8 percent to about Rs 5,593.8 crore in 2019-20 over the previous financial year, as per regulatory documents.

Google India's total income was at Rs 4,147 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2019, according to Registrar of Companies filing shared by market intelligence firm Tofler.

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Google India FY20 revenue rises 35 pc to Rs 5,593.8 cr, profit up 24 pc

The net profit was higher by about 23.9 percent at Rs 586.2 crore in FY20 as compared to Rs 472.8 crore in the preceding fiscal, it added.

"The Board is glad to inform you that during the period beginning from April 1, 2019, and ending on March 31, 2020, the company has achieved a turnover (revenue from operations) of Rs 53,847 million, which is higher than the earlier year of Rs 39,928 million," the filing said.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)