Google’s AI push in India targets healthcare, waste management, and smart farming

In a major step towards harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle critical societal challenges, Google has announced new partnerships in India aimed at driving progress in healthcare, sustainability, and agriculture. Unveiled at a press event in Bengaluru on 17th October 2024, the company outlined how its AI technology will support millions of diabetic retinopathy screenings, improve waste management, and optimise farm productivity.

This announcement is part of Google’s broader efforts to make AI tangible for businesses, individuals, and communities, as highlighted during its recent 10th edition of the Google for India event.

Speaking at a roundtable that also marked five years of Google’s Research lab in Bangalore, Dr Manish Gupta, Research Director, Google DeepMind stated: "At Google, we're not just building AI, but are helping shape a future where AI benefits everyone. Collaborating with key Indian organisations, our focused research in India across language understanding, healthcare, agriculture and sustainability is helping tackle many of the country’s unique challenges and creating AI-led solutions that will improve billions of lives. We're excited about the progress we're making and are confident that AI – and our concerted work with committed local partners – will play a transformative role in solving some of society’s biggest challenges."

AI for Healthcare: Combatting Preventable Blindness

One of Google’s most notable initiatives involves partnerships with Indian health-tech companies Forus Health and AuroLab, and Thai health provider Perceptra, to scale AI-driven screenings for diabetic retinopathy. This collaboration aims to deliver 6 million no-cost screenings in India and Thailand over the next decade. By detecting the early signs of diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness if untreated, this initiative seeks to provide early intervention for patients in resource-constrained communities.

Sunny Virmani, Group Product Manager at Google Health AI, expressed his optimism for the project: “From our initial research to the first patient screening in Madurai, India, we’ve been committed to translating AI's potential into meaningful change for people globally. And now the partnerships with Forus Health, AuroLab, and Perceptra are helping us expand on this commitment with our technology, as a global network of innovators rallies together to eradicate preventable blindness due to diabetic retinopathy. Such efforts can help shape a world in which timely intervention reaches even the most remote communities, and the latest advances in tech enable everyone to see a brighter future.”

The AI model has already supported over 600,000 screenings worldwide and is set to further expand its reach, bringing advanced medical diagnostics to underserved populations.

K. Chandrasekhar, Founder & CEO, Forus Health: “Forus Health is thrilled to partner with Google to bring AI-powered diabetic retinopathy screening to the forefront of eye care by leveraging our innovative retinal cameras and platform. We are confident of impacting millions of lives and fulfill our mission of eliminating preventable blindness.”

Mr R.D. Sriram, Managing Director, AuroLabs: “It has been great to see the multiple phases of Google’s diabetic retinopathy AI model - from development to validation to deployment. At AuroLabs, we are hopeful that this AI model will play a crucial role in preventing unnecessary vision loss for millions of people.”

AI for Sustainability: Transforming Waste Management

In the sustainability sector, Google is collaborating with Bangalore-based Saahas Zero Waste (SZW) to deploy its CircularNet AI model to improve plastic waste sorting and recycling. CircularNet uses machine learning to identify materials and streamline the sorting process, thereby reducing waste sent to landfills and supporting India’s circular economy.

In a pilot test at Saahas Zero Waste’s recycling facility, CircularNet achieved 85% accuracy in detecting plastic waste, improving the facility’s revenue by 10-12%. Sujit Sanjeev, Google’s Lead for CircularNet, highlighted the collaboration’s potential, stating, "At Google, we believe in the power of AI to build a more sustainable future for everyone. Our collaboration with Saahas Zero Waste demonstrates the potential impact of circular ecosystems, where valuable resources are reused instead of being discarded. We’re excited for Saahas Zero Waste’s deployment of CircularNet to help transform waste management in India. By enabling more efficient recycling and a truly circular economy for plastics, together we can work towards a more sustainable future for communities in India and across the world.”

Saahas Zero Waste aims to manage over 500 tonnes of waste daily by 2026, with AI playing a crucial role in driving efficiency and profitability in the sector.

AI for Agriculture: Precision Tools for Farmers

Google is also opening its Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) API to developers, enabling them to use remote sensing data to provide farm-level insights across India. By leveraging satellite imagery and machine learning, the ALU API can identify fields, water bodies, and vegetation, helping farmers make data-driven decisions to improve yields, manage resources, and combat the effects of climate change.

Alok Talekar, Engineering Lead at Google DeepMind India, said, “The ALU API, developed through collaborations between Google’s AnthroKrishi team and researchers and state and union governments across India, reflects our commitment to empowering India’s agriculture ecosystem. This technology aims to equip the ecosystem with capabilities that enable it to address rising productivity pressures alongside climate threats with targeted interventions. By now opening access to the ALU API to developers, we’re now aiming to see this technology unlock innovative solutions that address the specific needs of Indian farmers, while also guiding India’s agriculture sector towards a more sustainable and secure future.” 

This collaboration is set to empower farmers and agricultural organisations by providing them with advanced tools to enhance productivity and make informed decisions.