Google Cloud signs new partnerships to support blockchain and artificial intelligence

Google Cloud has opened its 'Next '18' Partner Summit by announcing new deals to support blockchain and artificial intelligence initiatives.
The provider will host blockchain services on its platform for the first time after partnerships were agreed with Digital Asset and BlockApps, two disruptors in the field of distributed ledger technology.
It has also struck a deal with Iron Mountain, the global leader in storage and information management services, to develop new AI-powered SaaS solutions. Iron Mountain will also use Google Cloud as its preferred cloud provider for artificial intelligence and machine learning.
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"As we approach our third annual Next conference, we’ve seen amazing progress in our partner ecosystem," said a statement from Google Cloud. "Since the start of 2017, we’ve increased the number of technology partners by 10x and we’ve more than doubled our team supporting these partners.
"Today, we’re more focused on partners than ever. We think about how to involve our partners on every deal and in every customer engagement. At Partner Summit, we’re celebrating the important work our partners do on behalf of our customers, sharing news and updates from across our partner ecosystem, and looking ahead at our shared opportunity to support customers on their journey to the cloud."
Google's publicity drive for its cloud services comes as it attempts to make up ground on the established market leaders, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. 'Next '18' runs until Thursday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, with all of GCP's key executives and other thought leaders due to make appearances.