Google Cloud AI Platform

Google Cloud AI Platform (Vertex AI) is Google's unified platform for building, deploying, and scaling AI applications. It provides access to Google's foundation models, tools for custom model development, and enterprise-grade infrastructure for production AI workloads.

Key offerings include: Gemini models (text, code, multimodal), Embeddings API, Vector Search for similarity matching, Model Garden with open and Google models, AutoML for custom training, and MLOps tools for model management. Vertex AI integrates with the broader GCP ecosystem including BigQuery and Cloud Functions.

For AI engineers, GCP offers competitive alternatives to other cloud providers with strong enterprise features. Considerations include: existing cloud infrastructure, Gemini model capabilities, data residency requirements, and pricing models. Google's AI investments make GCP a serious contender for production AI infrastructure.