Under the terms of the new partnership, the companies said Liberty Global customers will stand to directly benefit from new services, devices and TV experiences built with Google’s Gemini AI models.

Liberty Global will collaborate with Google Cloud on AI-first initiatives to boost its network scalability, security, data sovereignty and cost efficiencies. They will also explore opportunities to run Google Cloud services within Liberty Global’s data centres.

With roughly 80 million connections across its European telecoms operations, Liberty Global sees this partnership as a significant milestone for its business.

“We continue to innovate and enhance the experiences we offer our customers and drive substantial value creation for all our stakeholders,” said Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global. “By harnessing the power of AI and cloud technology, we are not only modernising our infrastructure but also creating new revenue opportunities and products that will benefit millions of consumers across our operating companies.”

The collaboration also consolidates and expands existing work between both companies, including businesses from Liberty Global’s Growth and Services portfolios such as Atlas Edge, Formula E and Liberty Blume. For instance, Formula E recently announced Google Cloud as its official AI partner of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

It will also combine the power of Google Cloud’s AI technologies with Liberty Global’s end customers via its consumer-facing core brands, including Virgin Media O2 in the UK, Telenet in Belgium, VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands, Sunrise in Switzerland and Virgin Media in Ireland.

One of the strategic priorities is AI-driven customer value, with both companies exploring opportunities for Liberty Global to offer Google products and services to its customers. Liberty Global’s operating companies are expected to launch their own smart home offerings over time.

Both companies will also work together on AI-first programmes to improve telecom system and network scalability, security and data sovereignty, in addition to driving cost efficiencies. Liberty Global said Google Cloud would also help accelerate the development of its autonomous network operations to improve customer service quality and reliability. This involves exploring opportunities to unlock additional data centre capacity for Google Cloud, including through Liberty Global’s Atlas Edge joint venture.

Together, both parties are eager to unlock new growth in the SME market and work together on go-to-market initiatives to drive sales of Google, third-party and Liberty Global’s own solutions for SMEs. This includes a portfolio of offerings in cloud, cybersecurity and AI services.

“We are deepening our partnership with Liberty Global to deliver transformative solutions that enhance customer experience and drive operational excellence,” said President of Google Cloud EMEA, Tara Brady. “Our goal is simple: to use technology to cut through complexity and bring value to our customers and partners.”

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