Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LSE:BMY) shares rose 4% to 512p this morning after the group announced a wide-ranging collaboration with Google Cloud aimed at improving book discovery, sharpening its academic platforms and modernising its digital infrastructure.
The partnership will bring together Bloomsbury’s publishing know-how with Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence tools, including NotebookLM, Vertex AI and the Gemini family of models. Gemini is Google’s most advanced multimodal system, while LearnLM is a version tailored for education and knowledge retrieval.
Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury’s founder and chief executive, said the company was “pleased to be working with Google… to demonstrate how cutting-edge technology can increase the discovery and sales of books, as well as transform engagement with content to improve learning outcomes”.
The company said its academic arm, Bloomsbury Digital Resources, is already operating at the forefront of the shift towards AI-powered learning tools.
It plans to use Google Cloud’s technology to boost discovery on its platforms, support personalised learning and strengthen engagement with educational content.
Across the wider business, Bloomsbury expects to benefit from improved data analysis and enhanced semantic search, helping it identify trends and support sales across its catalogue.
The use of predictive models is also expected to refine inventory management, reducing the risk of under- or over-ordering.
The investment required has already been included in the company’s existing capital spending plans.
Debbie Weinstein, Google’s regional president, said the collaboration would help Bloomsbury “revolutionise content discovery, enhance learning, and drive significant business growth”.