Technology major Google has unveiled a comprehensive, safety-first roadmap for India, centering its Artificial Intelligence (AI) protection efforts on vulnerable user groups, including children, teenagers, and older adults. The company announced a suite of new tools and digital literacy programs aimed at making AI safer and more inclusive in India’s booming digital economy.
Key Anti-Scam Features and AI Protection
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Real-Time Scam Detection (Pixel Phones): This feature, powered by Gemini Nano AI, will roll out on Pixel phones to analyze calls in real time and flag potential scams. Critically, the analysis happens entirely on-device, ensuring user privacy by not recording audio, transcripts, or sharing data with Google. The feature is off by default, applies only to calls from unknown numbers, and can be disabled by the user.
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Screen-Sharing Fraud Alerts: Google is also piloting a new feature that alerts users when they open financial apps like Google Pay, Paytm, or Navi while actively screen-sharing with an unknown contact, enabling them to quickly end the call and stop the screen-share.
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SynthID Watermarking: Google is broadening the availability of its SynthID Detector and releasing the SynthID text watermarking tool as an open-source component of its Responsible GenAI Toolkit. This technology embeds an invisible digital watermark into AI-generated content (images, audio, and now text), helping partners to authenticate whether the content was created or altered by AI.
Digital Literacy and Investment
Google is taking a “360-degree approach to safety” by combining on-product protections with significant investments in digital literacy and research:
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CyberPeace Foundation Grant: A grant of $200,000 has been announced for the CyberPeace Foundation in India. This funding will support capacity building and the deployment of AI-driven cyber-defence tools to fight fraud, create safer digital learning environments for young users, and strengthen responsible governance aligned with the IndiaAI Mission.
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APAC Research Grants: Google also pledged $1 million to five leading think tanks and universities across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region to conduct essential research and foster dialogue on the opportunities and challenges of AI safety and ethics.
These initiatives reflect Google’s commitment to preserving user trust as India rapidly adopts AI, particularly targeting the most vulnerable groups often exploited by online scammers.
