Google and NBCU Surprisingly Partner to Power the Olympics With AI

The search for an official Olympics Search partner is over.

What’s happening:

Today, Google, Team USA and NBCUniversal announced they’re teaming up for NBCU’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics. With the news, Google becomes the Official Search AI Partner of Team USA, marking the first time that the search giant has partnered with the United States national team.

“We are thrilled to announce Team USA’s partnership with Google,” Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said in a statement. “This collaboration is more than just a sponsorship; it’s a powerful alliance that brings together the best of technology and sports. By working with Google and NBCUniversal, we are ensuring that our athletes’ stories are told in the most dynamic and engaging ways possible.”

Why it’s happening:

With the partnership, NBCU and Google will look to showcase athlete stories through sponsored content formats, including utilizing Google Search and related AI features to explore this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Among the features, NBCUniversal will leverage Google’s Search, Maps and Gemini products.

With its “Explain the Games” integration, NBCU will showcase Google Search’s AI Overviews to answer consumer questions and explore the Olympics. This will also extend to social media accounts and be used by NBCU’s production team and commentators during daytime and primetime coverage across all of NBCUniversal’s linear networks and Peacock.

In another integration, “Try it with Google Gemini,” comedian and superfan Leslie Jones will follow the Olympics with the help of Google’s AI Assistant. According to the companies, “Jones will use Gemini to come up with custom moves or learn a new sport while entertaining and sharing knowledge with fans across NBCU’s networks and Peacock.”

With “One Day in Paris,” five Olympians and Paralympians will be featured in social videos and late-night promos as they explore this year’s host city with the help of Google Lens, Circle to Search, Immersive View in Google Maps and Gemini.

Finally, “Enhanced 3D Broadcasts” will feature immersive views of the Olympic venues in Paris thanks to Google Maps Platform’s Photorealistic 3D Tiles.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Google to deliver innovative, highly engaging elements that will enhance the coverage of the Paris Games for our audiences and make every viewer feel as though they are on the ground in Paris,” Dan Lovinger, president of Olympic and Paralympic partnerships, NBCUniversal, said.

Related video

What else to know:

The partnership, which may be an important step for Google in the AI arms race, is NBCU’s latest tech update for the 2024 Olympics, which starts on Friday, July 26.

ADWEEK previously reported the details of the company’s partnership with the Trade Desk to bring the first programmatic inventory to the Paris games. With the partnership, NBCU is offering ad buyers three different private marketplaces for programmatic ads, including an Olympic Trials offering, an All Olympics offering for live coverage and an Olympic Highlights offering.

Beyond technology, the Google partnership helps NBCU highlight the stars of this year’s games. That’s been a priority as the company brings in high-profile talent, including Jimmy Fallon and Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper, to find audiences and keep them watching during its 7,000 hours of coverage across linear and Peacock.