In conjunction with the 47th ASEAN Summit, Google recently announced new intiatives for AI skills along with various tools for the the region with "Advancing ASEAN with AI". This includes Google DeepMind's AlphaFold AI, AnthroKishi for agriculture and more.
From Research to Agriculture and more
AlphaFold models complex 3D protein structures, with researchers at UKM using it to accelerate the search for a cure for melioidosis. Dr Lam Su Datt, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at UKM, shared the urgent need: “Burkholderia pseudomallei is a near-indestructible bacterium... Despite decades of study, there’s still no vaccine or cure. With AlphaFold, we can finally visualize its protein structures... a step closer to developing effective treatments.”
The AnthroKrishi team is expanding its Agricultural APIs to countries including Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. These models provide real-time agricultural insights, to help support farming sustainability amidst changing climate conditions.
Google.org has also committed US$1.5 million in funding to the nonprofit TransitionZero to develop an AI-powered tool for cost-effective clean energy planning. It also continues to support the AI Ready ASEAN initiative led by the ASEAN Foundation.
Since its launch in late 2024, the program has equipped over 800,000 young people, educators, and parents with essential AI skills. Its new self-paced online platform, AI Class ASEAN, already serves over 14,000 users.
For Malaysian classrooms, the Gemini Academy pilot, launched in late 2023, has already trained nearly 31,000 educators. A Google impact survey revealed that 75% of participating educators became more productive, saving an average of over 7.8 hours per week across grading, lesson planning, and creative idea development.
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