Dive Brief:
- Google Public Sector on Tuesday launched a new Gemini agentic AI product designed for U.S. federal, state and local government services.
- The product is capable of policy analysis, Freedom of Information Act redactions and assisting customers with procurement compliance, the company said. Governments can build customized AI agents for specialized tasks.
- The Missouri state government and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are already using the service, according to Google.
Dive Insight:
A wave of AI developers have tailored their offerings for the public sector over the past couple of years.
Gemini’s agentic AI government services product is built on a secure platform that allows for monitoring of AI agents and risk management, according to Google.
“To deploy agentic capabilities in the public sector requires non-negotiable standards for security, confidentiality, and data sovereignty,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a news release. “Gemini for government services provides a secure environment for agencies to automate workflows.”
The announcement comes as Google’s discounted AI service contract with the federal government is set to expire Nov. 15, NextGov reported.
The tool can integrate into platforms governments regularly use, including Google Workspace, Microsoft Sharepoint, Outlook 365, Salesforce and ServiceNow, as well as the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register, the company said.
It also pulls answers directly from official regulations and agency files “Instead of guessing,” the company said in a press release.
"Our citizens expect the government to move at the speed of modern life, not the speed of paperwork," Tim Marczewski, director of AI and innovation for the Missouri Office of Administration, said in a news release. "By automating routine work in our workflows, we're delivering faster, better services to Missourians."
As more local governments explore AI services, some surveys have suggested adoption may be moving too quickly from a security and readiness standpoint and from a public trust angle.
A recent UserEvidence poll of 800 public sector IT specialists found that 35% reported loosening security restrictions to enable AI access, and nearly 45% reported an increase in AI-related security incidents in the past year.
A majority reported their employer was using or exploring generative AI products, and 35% said they were using or piloting agentic AI, a more advanced tool that can take action without human input.
