Google Cloud and Liberty Global have signed a five-year partnership to deploy Gemini models and other cloud tools across Liberty Global’s European telecom businesses.
The companies said the program will target customer-facing features and back-end automation across a footprint of about 80 million fixed and mobile connections.
Gemini moves into TV search and customer care
Liberty Global said Gemini will be integrated into Horizon TV to make content search and discovery “more conversational,” and the same AI stack will extend into customer care channels to improve responsiveness and first-contact resolution.
The partners also said Liberty Global operating brands including Virgin Media O2, Telenet, VodafoneZiggo and Sunrise will explore distributing more Google products such as Pixel devices, smart home gear and subscription services through telco channels.
Network automation and “cloud-in-telco” infrastructure
On the operations side, the companies framed the work around scalability, security and “data sovereignty,” with Liberty Global saying it will work with Google Cloud on autonomous network operations that detect issues and execute corrective actions with fewer manual interventions.
The partners said they will “explore opportunities” to run Google Cloud services inside Liberty Global data centers and to unlock additional data center capacity for Google Cloud, including through AtlasEdge.
SME market and data monetization
The partners also said they will pursue new growth in the SME market by packaging cloud, cybersecurity and AI services and will “explore” data monetization initiatives using telco data while “prioritizing security and data privacy.”
However, European data protection guidance from the European Data Protection Board requires a lawful basis for processing personal data and sets standards for consent and safeguards such as pseudonymization where applicable.
Pseudonymization is a technique that replaces direct identifiers so data cannot be linked to an individual without additional information.
Broader industry context
Separately, Industry research from groups such as the GSMA and the World Economic Forum suggests that telecommunications operators are using AI to reduce operating costs and enhance customer experience as part of broader strategic technology deployments.
Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said the partnership is intended to modernize infrastructure and create new products and revenue opportunities. Tara Brady, Google Cloud president for EMEA, said the goal is to “cut through complexity” for customers and partners.