Google Maps is about to get a big dose of artificial intelligence

Google has unveiled new AI features for its mapping and geospatial applications that are designed with enterprise users in mind. The new features, announced at Cloud Next in Las Vegas this week, add generative AI capabilities to Google’s mapping platform, giving it enhanced data and data analysis powers.

One new feature, called Maps Imagery Grounding, allows enterprise users to use AI to create realistic scenes in Google Street View to visualize what a particular project might look like — whether it’s a movie set or a planned construction site. Users simply type a prompt into the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, which then conjures up the scene within Street View, as long as the appropriate settings are enabled within Google Maps images.

“In seconds, you can accurately sketch out your creative vision, and you can even use Veo to animate the scene,” the company said in its press release.

The company is also expanding the ways users can analyze data from satellite images in Google Earth. A new feature called Aerial and Satellite Insights allows users to analyze images stored in Google Cloud’s BigQuery, the company’s cloud data warehouse and analytics platform. The company claims that this feature reduces “workweeks” to just minutes of work.

Finally, the company is also launching two new Earth AI imagery models, which are artificial intelligence systems designed to aid in geospatial analysis. Google says the models have been trained to identify “specific objects in images, such as bridges, roads, and power lines.” Previously, companies had to build and train their own AI systems to do this, a process that Google says can take months. The new models mean that “companies no longer need to spend months training and building AI from scratch when developing their own products.”

These announcements build on Google’s broader push into geospatial AI for enterprises. The company’s Earth AI platform is already being used by partners including Airbus and Boston Children’s Hospital For applications ranging from environmental monitoring to disaster response.

“These AI updates open up entirely new possibilities for businesses, data analysts and urban planners,” the company said in its statement.