Google has always used its annual I/O conference to connect to developers in its sprawling empire. It announces new tools and initiatives, sprinkles in a little hype, and then tells those watching: choose us, and together we’ll go far.

谷歌总是在每年一度的I/O开发者大会上与自己庞大帝国中的开发商联络感情，宣布新工具、新计划，宣传造势，然后告诉所有看客：选择我们，我们将携手走得更远。

But while in previous years this message has been directed at coders working with Android and Chrome — the world’s biggest mobile OS and web browser respectively — yesterday, CEO Sundar Pichai made it clear that the next platform the company wants to dominate could be even bigger: artificial intelligence.

但是过去的几年中，谷歌一直向世界上最大的移动操作系统安卓和谷歌浏览器传达一个信息，5月17日，谷歌首席执行官桑达尔•皮查伊明确表明了谷歌下一个战略宏图就是人工智能。

For Google, this doesn’t just mean using AI to improve its own products. (Although it’s certainly doing that).

对谷歌而言，这不仅仅是为了利用人工智能提升自己的产品（虽然谷歌目前正是这么做的）。

The company wants individuals and small companies around the world to also get on board. It wants to wield influence in the wider AI ecosystem, and to do so has put together an impressive stack of machine learning tools — from software to servers — that mean you can build an AI product from the ground up without ever leaving the Google playpen.

谷歌想要让世界上所有人和小规模公司都加入到它的行列，它想在人工智能领域扩大影响。若要达成此目的，需要具备大量的从软件到服务器这样的机器学习工具，具备这些就意味着无需离开谷歌便能从无到有，制作一款人工智能产品。

Other firms like Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft also offer their own AI tools, but it’s Google’s that feel pre-eminent.

亚马逊、脸谱、微软等其他公司也推出了自己的人工智能工具，但只有谷歌显得卓尔不群。

Samim Winiger, head of machine learning design studio Samim.io. thinks this is partly down to the company’s capacity to shape the media narrative, but also because of the strong level of support it provides to its users.

机器学习设计工作室Samim.io总裁萨米姆•威尼格认为一部分原因是谷歌能够左右媒体叙事，另外便是源于谷歌对用户的强力支持。

“There are technical differences between [different AI frameworks], but machine learning communities live off community support and forums, and in that regard Google is winning,” he says.

他说，“不同的人工智能框架技术有所差异，但是机器学习社区取决于社区支持和论坛，从这方面而言，谷歌是赢家。”

（翻译：红楼里的小石头）