Google says it will support AI-focused startups through the AI Futures Fund

Time and again, Google announces initiatives to fund budding projects around technological advancements. Its latest bet is the AI Futures Fund, which is aimed at startups working on products and services leveraging artificial intelligence.

Google said in a blog post that it will invest and collaborate with startups at various growth stages through the program, giving them access to "Google DeepMind's latest AI models as well as resources, technical expertise and equity funding to accelerate their progress."

Google already has some early participants on board for the AI Futures Fund. The AI meme-making platform Viggle uses Gemini, Imagen, and Veo models to explore new forms of video creation. India-based digital comic startup Toonsutra uses Gemini to translate its content for multiple languages.

Early results for Toonsutra have shown improvements over Google's Translation API in terms of the time and effort required to translate comic content.

According to the company, the AI startups picked for the initiative will get early access to select AI models from Google DeepMind, including Gemini, Imagen, and Veo. They can collaborate with Google experts and get hands-on support from researchers, product managers, engineers, and market specialists from DeepMind and Google Labs.

AI Futures Fund will also provide Google Cloud credits and tech support to eligible startups. "Select startups get the opportunity to seek direct investment from Google to fuel growth and scale AI development," Google said. The initiative is open for applications in the regions where Gemini is available.

Nowadays, it's rare that a Google announcement doesn't come with the touch of AI. The latest one comes not long after Google announced a program to fund short films that explore the relationship between humanity and AI.

The company has also started an initiative called 100 Zeros to invest in films with the hopes of promoting its products. As part of its AI push, Google also worked with the Las Vegas Sphere to recreate an 86-year-old movie for a 16K LED screen.