Google announced several new features for its apps and services at its Google for India 2024 event on Thursday. The company announced improvements to Google Pay with support for personal loans and gold loans and introduced new health-related features developed in partnership with the healthcare sector. The company also introduced new features to detect and protect users from fraud. Google also announced that it is rolling out support for Gemini Live and its AI search previews in regional languages.

At its annual Google for India event in Delhi, the company announced improvements to the search experience, including the ability for customers to reach businesses directly through WhatsApp. Previously, listings could include a phone number that could be tapped to make a call. Google Maps has also been updated with support for real-time flood and fog warnings, according to the search giant.

The company is bringing support for personal loans and gold loans to Google Pay, its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app. It also announced new partnerships with Aditya Birla Capital Finance for personal loans and Muthoot Finance for gold loans. With Google’s revised limits, users can now access personal loans worth up to Rs. 5 lakh and gold loans worth Rs. 50 lakhs.

Google’s AI tools have enabled free screenings for cancer and tuberculosis in India
Photo credit: Google

As part of its DigiKavach initiative, Google says it has saved users from scams worth Rs. 13,000 crore and served over 41 million alerts to users in 2023. More than 170 million fake reviews were automatically detected and removed on Google Maps, according to the company. Google says Android users in India will soon be protected with a new enhanced anti-fraud feature that prevents users from downloading malicious third-party apps that seek access to critical permissions.

Google also unveiled new health features integrated by the company’s partners, such as Apollo Hospitals, which uses deep learning models from the company to improve diagnostic services. The company’s AI tools also enable support for TB and cancer screening in several regions – at no cost to patients.

Google also says it is rolling out support for Gemini Live in nine languages ​​including Hindi, allowing users to chat with the AI ​​assistant with real-time responses. AI previews, another feature that was previously available in Hindi and English, will soon be available in four more regional languages ​​— Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.