Garman told WIRED ahead of the event that Amazon will also introduce a range of tools to help customers wrangle generative AI models that he says are often too expensive, unreliable, and unpredictable.
These include a way to boost the capabilities of smaller models using larger ones, a system for managing hundreds of different AI agents, and a tool that provides proof that a chatbot’s output is correct. Amazon builds its own AI models, for recommending products on its ecommerce platform and other tasks, but it primarily serves as a platform to help other firms build their own AI programs.
While Amazon does not have a ChatGPT-type product to advertise its AI capabilities, the scope of its cloud services will give it an advantage selling generative AI to others, says Steven Dickens, CEO and principal analyst at HyperFRAME Research. “The breadth of AWS—that’s going to be an interesting thing,” he says.
Amazon’s own line of chips will help it make the AI software it sells more affordable. “Silicon is going to have to be a key part of the strategy of any hyperscaler going forward,” says Dickens, referring to cloud providers that offer hardware for building the very largest, most capable AI. He also notes that Amazon has been developing its custom silicon for longer than competitors.
Garman says a growing number of AWS customers are now moving on from demos to building commercially viable products and services incorporating generative AI. “One of the things that we’re quite excited about is having customers move from having their AI experiments and proof of concepts,” he told WIRED.
Garman says that many customers are far less interested in pushing the frontier of generative AI than in finding ways to make the technology cheaper and more reliable.
A newly announced AWS service called Model Distillation, for instance, can produce a smaller model that is faster and less expensive to run while still having similar capabilities to a larger one. “Let’s say you’re an insurance company,” Garman says. “You can take a whole set of questions, feed those into a really advanced model, and then use that to train the smaller model to be an expert on those things.”
Another new cloud tool announced today, Bedrock Agents, can be used to create and manage so-called AI agents that automate useful tasks such as customer support, order processing, and analytics. It includes a master agent that will manage a team of AI underlings, providing reports on how they function and coordinating changes. “You can basically go create an agent that says you’re the boss of all the other agents,” Garman says.
As cloud streaming for Portal is in beta, there are a lot of missing features, though. Users won’t be able to play “streaming games purchased on PS Store”, only those included in the subscription-dependent Premium catalog, and it’s restricted to PS5 titles—PS3 and PS4 games are explicitly excluded, which seems slightly odd.
Game trials are also locked out, as are some system features, such as party voice chat, 3D audio support, or “in-game commerce”. That last one’s probably a good thing to leave out for now—the last thing anyone wants is a dropped connection potentially messing up a DLC transaction involving real money.
Sony says games can be streamed at up to 1080p full HD quality at 60fps, with save data able to be transferred over the cloud, too. “Up to” is key though—you’ll need a minimum 5Mbps of up/download speeds to even establish a cloud gaming session, with 720p quality requiring a minimum 7Mbps, and 1080p needing 13Mbps. Realistically, based on similar game streaming services and the Portal’s own performance even on an in-home network, expect to need even higher speeds for a viable experience.
End of the Console Era?
What’s particularly interesting here is timing. Portal as it launched was essentially an evolution of the same Remote Play feature that Sony has been offering in various incarnations for decades—PSP used the earliest version of the tech to connect to PS3 back in 2006, followed by PS Vita pairing with PS3 and PS4.
Nowadays, almost any device with a screen, an internet connection, and a paired controller can use Remote Play to stream a mirror of your PS5—Portal was just a dedicated bit of kit to do that on. The introduction of cloud gaming may make Portal that bit more feature-rich, but it may also point to a growing trend among console manufacturers to leave the console behind entirely.
Take Sony’s arch gaming rival Microsoft—its current marketing push is that almost anything “is an Xbox”. A large part of that hinges on accessing Xbox services “with the help of Cloud Gaming”, turning any device with a screen, an internet connection, and a paired controller (sound familiar?) into an Xbox.
Nintendo, meanwhile, has allowed certain games to launch on the Switch as cloud-only titles, and although this is usually restricted to titles that are typically too demanding or too large for the Switch to run natively (such as Resident Evil Village or Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy), it shows even the notoriously conservative Japanese company isn’t averse to at least experimenting with games that only exist in the ether.
In the unlikely event that 2 TB is not enough, you can increase your storage, but the option to upgrade to an even larger plan is available only for current subscribers and in select countries. Here are the plans (no annual discount on the 10-, 20-, or 30-TB plans):
5-TB Plan: For $25 per month or $250 per year (£20 or £200 in the UK), you get 5 TB with family sharing, the same perks as the original tier, 10 percent back on purchases from the Google Store, and a VPN for Android and iOS.
10-TB Plan: For $50 per month (no annual plan) (£40 in the UK), you get 10 TB with family sharing and the same perks as the 5-TB plan.
20-TB Plan: For $100 per month (no annual plan) (£80 in the UK), you get 20 TB with family sharing and the same perks as the 5-TB plan.
30-TB Plan: For $150 per month (no annual plan) (£120 in the UK), you get 30 TB with family sharing and the same perks as the 5-TB plan.
Google One Benefits
The main benefit of a Google One plan is the extra cloud storage you can share with up to five family members. While families can share the same space, personal photos and files are accessible only to each owner unless you specifically choose to share them. Everyone in the family can also share the additional benefits (provided you all live in the same country).
Let’s take a closer look at those benefits:
Access to Google Experts
You get instant access to Google experts for general questions or tech support for any Google product or service. You can contact support by phone, chat, or email through the Google One app 24/7. Response times for phone and chat are 2 to 3 minutes, while emails can expect a response within 24 hours.
Google via Simon Hill
Extra Editing Features in Google Photos
This adds features like Magic Eraser, enabling you to delete unwanted people or objects from the background of your photos, Portrait Light and Portrait Blur, enabling you to brighten faces and eliminate shadows or blur backgrounds for that bokeh effect, and HDR to enhance brightness and contrast. All features work with eligible shots in your Google Photos app. These features are available on Google Pixel phones, even if you don’t subscribe to Google One.
Cash Back on Purchases
The 200-GB plan nets you 3 percent back in Google Store credit for any Google Store purchases. The 2-TB plan and above nets you 10 percent back. If you’re thinking about buying multiple Google devices, this could prove useful. It can take up to one month to get the credit after your purchase, and it will have an expiry date attached.
VPN for Android and iOS
All plans now come with Google’s virtual private network service, VPN by Google One, for Android and iOS devices. It’s good for privacy and designed to prevent logging (so no one can see what you are doing on the internet), but it is a limited service compared to our favorite VPNs, chiefly because it works only with Android and iOS devices (no web support), and there’s no option to choose servers in specific countries.
Dark Web Monitoring
This is another security feature that scans the dark web and notifies you if any of your personal information (such as your email address or date of birth) is found there. If any of your data shows up, it will suggest next steps, such as setting up two-factor authentication. You can choose exactly what personal data it looks for and make changes at any time via the Google One app. You will also find some basic advice on things like how to avoid malware or create strong passwords.
Google Workspace Premium
Both the Premium plans include Google Workspace Premium, which gives you enhanced features in Google Meet and Google Calendar. For example, you can have longer meetings with background noise cancelation, or create a professional booking page to enable other folks to make appointments with you.
Nest Aware
Only included in the UK so far, a Nest Aware subscription that includes extended storage of video from home security cameras is now part of the 2TB Premium plan and above, starting from £8 per month or £80 per year. Considering Nest Aware costs £6 per month or £60 per year on its own, this seems like a great deal.
Fitbit Premium
Again, only included in the UK so far, Fitbit Premium is now included as part of the 2TB Premium plan and above, starting from £8 per month or £80 per year. Considering that Fitbit Premium currently costs £8 per month or £80 per year on its own in the UK, this deal is too good to pass up.
Gemini Advanced
Google’s AI chatbot (previously known as Bard) is “capable at reasoning, following instructions, coding, and creative collaboration,” according to Google. It can understand and generate high-quality code in various programming languages, and you can input text, images, or code. Google also plans to roll Gemini into Google apps, like Gmail, Docs, Slides, and Meet, but there’s no fixed release date for this yet.
Extra Benefits
A couple of things fall into this category:
Google Play Credits: You will occasionally get credits to redeem in the Play Store on books, movies, apps, or games. The amount and frequency vary.
Discounts, Trials, and Other Perks: You may get offers for discounted Google services or hardware, extended free trials of Google services, and other perks (for example, Google offered everyone upgrading to a 2-TB plan a free Nest Mini). These offers pop up and disappear seemingly at random.
How to Subscribe to Google One
If you want to sign up, it’s easy. Create or log in to a Google account, then visit the Google One website or install the Android or iOS app.
