We recently hosted our annual Google Cloud Startup Summit, and we were thrilled to showcase a wide range of AI startups leveraging Google Cloud, including Higgsfield AI, Click Therapeutics, Baseten, LiveX AI, Reve AI, and Vellum. As a former co-founder and venture capitalist, I was inspired by the remarkable solutions these startups are developing and the rapid pace at which they are transitioning from experimentation to production with our AI-optimized technology stack. You can watch the event on demand or tune into our sessions in Asia-Pacific region (October 17).

During the Startup Summit keynote, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and I discussed our ongoing commitment to help startups grow. Building on Alphabet’s latest infrastructure and AI advances, startups can accelerate AI development with the choice of more than 160 models, including first-party, third-party, and open models. They can leverage our single, integrated development platform, Vertex AI, harness the computing potential of both TPUs and GPUs, access Google’s AI-optimized infrastructure, and more. 

We’re proud that more than 60% of funded gen AI startups and nearly 90% of gen AI unicorns are Google Cloud customers. 

Here are the top five takeaways we heard from founders at the summit:

1. Build with the best infrastructure: During the “Driving impact with Google Cloud and NVIDIA” session, Jia Li (co-founder and chief AI officer at LiveX AI) highlighted the impact of using Google Cloud and NVIDIA technologies, such as Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), NVIDIA A100 GPUs, and NVIDIA NIM microservices to scale their LiveX AI Agent and ChurnControl products effectively. This approach has enabled LiveX AI to reduce operational costs by approximately 66%. Working with partners like NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD, we provide customers with the widest range of AI-optimized compute options across TPUs, GPUs, and CPUs to provide performance and cost advantages for training and serving models. 
2. Stay flexible with Google Cloud’s open platform: During the “Choosing the right gen AI partner,” Akash Sharma, CEO at Vellum, talked about the value of having a diverse array of first-party, third-party, and open models available in Vertex AI to choose from depending on their unique needs. He also mentioned that an end-to-end platform that covers a range of technical requirements can speed up time to market. Our platform, Vertex AI, is built with an open and flexible approach, providing a coherent end-to-end solution to support the entire model-to-production lifecycle. Our open approach enables startups like Anthropic, Mistral, Cohere, and many others to connect with the developer ecosystem by bringing their models to Vertex AI. Startups are also utilizing our platform to build applications, leveraging and customizing the best foundation models from Google and the industry, including Gemini.
3. Accelerate development with Vertex AI: At the session “From idea to impact with Google Cloud & Workspace,” Alex Mashrabov, CEO at Higgsfield AI, talked about his company’s unique technical needs. Higgsfield AI utilizes Vertex AI and GPUs to quickly train its platform for gen-AI videos across a range of types, but especially personalized videos that were previously expensive and cumbersome to produce. In training, Gemini is the only option they’ve found that can capture the full expressiveness, action, and motion in their videos versus doing a simple frame-by-frame analysis. Our integrated development platform, Vertex AI, accelerates the creation of sophisticated generative AI agents and experiences. Built on world-class infrastructure, it uniquely allows customers to discover, tune, augment, and manage their AI agents seamlessly.
4. Strengthen data security: Startups can leverage Google Cloud's advanced security measures to enhance their data security. During the session “From idea to impact with Google Cloud & Workspace,” Han Chiu, CTO of Click Therapeutics, noted how important data security is for his company. He mentioned that Click Therapeutics leverages Google Cloud's intuitive solutions that are aligned with the company's day-to-day workflows to help to improve the company's data security posture.
5. Connect, collaborate, and scale: Google Cloud is committed to empowering startups through AI education and collaboration. We just launched Startup School: Gen AI, new Startup Hubs in London and São Paulo, and introduced programs to boost partner-sales and go-to-market capabilities. This includes the ISV Startup Springboard, partnerships with Y Combinator, and collaborations with top accelerators and incubators around the world such as 500 Global, StartX, Berkeley Skydeck and more.

We’re thrilled to continue supporting startups in their journey toward leveraging generative AI, and I look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that emerge from this vibrant community. Check out the Google for Startups Cloud Program to learn more about how Google Cloud can accelerate your startup journey.