Compared to years past, I/O 2024 felt more like a developer conference over two days. In fact, there was a third day of I/O, with Google hosting a new employee-only “Demo Slam” event today where an internal Gemini hackathon was announced.
2020 had no in/out, 2021 was broadcast to a very limited live audience in Mountain View. Participants were invited for one day in 2022 and 2023. Following the 2024 keynote, Google personally hosted live sessions for attendees, as well as after-hours social events.
I/O 2024 already felt like a three-day event, as pre-recorded live sessions were released on YouTube Thursday morning, but it was actually just another day of programming for Googlers at the Shoreline Amphitheater.
In an internal email we reviewed this afternoon, CEO Sundar Pichai, who hosted the event, said thousands of Googlers attended and that others were able to broadcast it internally. He also shared the images LinkedIn:
Android engineering VP Dave Burke and others from Google DeepMind, Search, and Labs demonstrated what was announced earlier in the week. Project Astra was shown again, and some of these announcements were then made available to the staff for testing.
Meanwhile, at the I/O Demo Slam, Pichai announced an internal hackathon encouraging Google employees to experiment with Gemini.
Googlers can work in teams, the project is meant to encourage artificial intelligence experimentation that could result in new products. Google executives will select finalists to present at a company-wide gathering, which will also offer cash prizes for the winning teams.
Pichai said Google wants to “create more opportunities for us to come together as a company focused on our greatest capabilities, artificial intelligence, in the spirit of innovation and problem solving.”
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