  Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are helping tackle a growing number
of societal challenges, demonstrating technology's increasing capability to
address complex issues, including those outlined in the United Nations (UN)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite global efforts, 80 percent of SDG
targets have deviated, stalled, or regressed, and only 15 percent are on track
as of 2023, illustrating the urgency of accelerating efforts to meet the goals
by 2030. We draw on Google's internal and collaborative research, technical
work, and social impact initiatives to show AI's potential to accelerate action
on the SDGs and make substantive progress to help address humanity's most
pressing challenges. The paper highlights AI capabilities (including computer
vision, generative AI, natural language processing, and multimodal AI) and
showcases how AI is altering how we approach problem-solving across all 17 SDGs
through use cases, with a spotlight on AI-powered innovation in health,
education, and climate. We then offer insights on AI development and deployment
to drive bold and responsible innovation, enhance impact, close the
accessibility gap, and ensure that everyone, everywhere, can benefit from AI.
