Google Cloud previews AI.AGG in BigQuery for semantic aggregation over millions of rows

[Google Cloud] Google Cloud said BigQuery has introduced AI.AGG, a preview multi-level semantic aggregation function embedded natively in GoogleSQL, which treats semantic aggregation as a distributed map-reduce problem and lets data teams run natural-language instructions over millions of rows with a single SQL query. According to Google Cloud, the engine automatically performs row-level validation, dropping or returning an error on payloads above 10 MiB; groups input rows into context-safe batches that fit the token limits of the chosen Gemini endpoint; applies the prompt to each batch in parallel via Vertex AI to generate intermediate summaries; and recursively batches and re-submits those outputs until a single aggregated string is produced per SQL GROUP BY clause. Google Cloud said AI.AGG relies entirely on full-weight LLMs at every pipeline stage, unlike row-level functions such as AI.CLASSIFY that can use distilled CPU proxy models. The function natively supports text and multimodal inputs, and with BigQuery Object Tables and OBJ.GET_ACCESS_URL, teams can aggregate visual insights from images in Cloud Storage without data movement or transcoding, according to the company. Google Cloud cautioned that when a STRUCT is passed, a single NULL field causes the entire row to be silently discarded, and recommended wrapping nullable fields with IFNULL().