Spanner Powered Large Generative AI and Similarity Search

Spanner, a fully managed, highly available distributed database service from Google Cloud

Google added exact closest neighbor (KNN) search to vector embeddings in preview, allowing enterprises to develop generative AI at almost infinite scale

Google discusses how vector search can improve general artificial intelligence applications

They also discuss the operational benefits of Spanner over a vector database

Generative AI enables personalized conversational virtual assistants and text-based content creation

Suppose a financial institution uses a virtual assistant to answer client questions, manage accounts, and recommend financially tailored solutions

The customer’s decision-making process may take place across many chat sessions with the virtual assistant in complicated settings

When serving many customers, vector workloads like the financial virtual assistant example above can grow very large