Google Enhances AI Features in BigQuery and Looker

Google is hosting its Cloud Next conference in Tokyo this week, emphasizing enhancements to its databases tailored for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. As AI continues to dominate discussions in the tech industry, Google is unveiling significant updates to its Spanner SQL database, which now includes support for graph and vector searches, as well as improved full-text search capabilities. Gerrit Kazmaier, Google’s VP and GM for database, Data Analytics, and Looker, highlighted the importance of transitioning from isolated data silos to a unified multimodal data platform that integrates both structured and unstructured data. The new features in Spanner are designed to facilitate the flow of enterprise data, enabling organizations to leverage AI effectively. With the addition of graph and vector capabilities, Spanner can now support the integration of enterprise data into generative AI applications, enhancing existing foundation models through retrieval augmented generation (RAG). Google asserts that these advancements transform Spanner into a multi-model database, capable of supporting a new class of AI-enabled applications. In addition to AI-focused updates, Google is introducing a new pricing structure for Spanner, allowing customers to choose between single-region and multi-region offerings. Furthermore, Bigtable now supports GoogleSQL, simplifying access for developers. For Oracle database users, Google has announced the ability to host Oracle Exadata and Autonomous database services within its cloud infrastructure, facilitating seamless application integration between Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud. The conference also introduced support for open-source tools like Apache Spark and Kafka, enhancing data streaming and processing capabilities, alongside real-time streaming from Google’s Analytics Hub.