This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, Financials) and Liberty Global have entered a five-year partnership focused on applying artificial intelligence to automate network operations and expand data monetization opportunities across Liberty’s telecom footprint.
Google Cloud will give Liberty’s European telecom firms AI technologies to make their operations more efficient, increase security, and better control costs, as part of the deal. The firms will also look at the prospect of hosting Google services in Liberty’s own data centers, especially in places where there is a lot of demand.
There is also a part of the partnership that is aimed for consumers. Liberty will provide a variety of Google goods, including Pixel smartphones, smart home devices, Chromebooks, and YouTube Premium, to users in all of its territories. Local operating businesses will slowly roll out these items over time.
Both companies said that better data sovereignty and AI-powered services that work with Liberty’s infrastructure were two of the main benefits of the partnership. It builds on Google Cloud’s previous cooperation with Formula E and increases Alphabet’s footprint in telecom industry AI applications, which is a major area for strategic investment.
The agreement strengthens the relationship between the two firms, and it also shows that Google Cloud is still making progress in gaining big AI and infrastructure contracts in Europe.
