Research paper🇺🇸
Meta FAIR technical report on DINOv3, a family of self-supervised vision models with high-quality dense features.
Google Cloud Vision API AI features, pricing and GDPR (October 2026)
Google Cloud image recognition API for labels, objects, logos, text, faces and explicit content detection.
Usage-basedFree plan
from $1.50 usage-based
Pricing details
The first 1,000 units per feature per month are free, then tiered prices per 1,000 units; each feature applied to an image counts as a separate unit (as of September 2026).
What is Google Cloud Vision API?
Google Cloud Vision API analyzes images through pretrained models. Developers use it to tag images, find objects and logos, read text and screen user uploads for explicit content, billed per feature and image.
The API offers label detection, object localization, logo and landmark detection, face detection, image properties, crop hints, web detection, SafeSearch and two OCR modes for images and files such as PDF and TIFF. Besides the global endpoint, OCR requests can go to an EU or US endpoint to store and process data only in that region. Google states it does not use content sent to the API to train its Vision features.
Google Cloud Vision API AI features and use cases
- Tags product and media imagesLabel detection and object localization return descriptions, confidence scores and bounding boxes. E-commerce and media teams can tag large image libraries for search instead of labeling each file by hand.
- Reads text from images and scansText detection and dense document text detection extract printed and handwritten text from photos, PDFs and TIFF files. Teams can index scanned material or capture data from signs and labels.
- Screens uploads for explicit contentSafeSearch returns likelihood ratings for categories such as adult or violent content. Platforms can hold back risky user uploads for review before they go live.
What sets Google Cloud Vision API apart
- EU and US endpoints for OCR requests keep processing and storage in that region.
- Free monthly allowance of 1,000 units per feature.
- Face detection returns facial landmarks and bounding boxes; celebrity recognition is billed as its own feature.
Where Google Cloud Vision API is strongest
United States Available internationally
The Vision API is a Google Cloud service based in the US and offers a dedicated US endpoint next to the global one.
Questions to ask before you buy Google Cloud Vision API
Use the EU endpoint explicitly if data must stay in the EU, since the global endpoint is the default and regional routing applies to OCR. Check whether face detection is needed at all, because processing facial images can count as biometric data under the GDPR. Estimate costs per feature, since each feature applied to an image is billed separately.
Using Google Cloud Vision API in the EU: GDPR and AI Act
- Data locationMultiple regions, EU region available (according to the vendor). Hosting regions: EU, United States.
- Data processing agreementNot published by the vendor: ask for one (Art. 28 GDPR).
- EU AI ActCheck whether the AI prepares decisions about people. If not, the high-risk rules usually do not apply. The high-risk obligations apply from December 2, 2027 (Digital Omnibus).
General information with sources, not legal advice.
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Questions about Google Cloud Vision API
Can I keep Vision API processing in the EU?
For OCR requests, yes. Google documents the eu-vision.googleapis.com endpoint, which stores and processes data in the European Union only. You have to set it explicitly.
How is the Vision API priced?
Each feature applied to an image is one unit. The first 1,000 units per feature each month are free, then label detection costs $1.50 per 1,000 units up to five million units.
Does Google train on my images?
Google states that it does not use the content you send to train and improve its Cloud Vision features.
Google Cloud Vision API update historyno updates yet
No changes recorded for Google Cloud Vision API yet.
Changes the vendor made and confirmed user reports, each checked against the vendor's own pages. We review every tool monthly.
Alternatives to Google Cloud Vision API
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Research paper🇺🇸
Meta paper on SAM 3, a model that detects, segments and tracks objects in images and video from short noun phrases or example images.
Contact for pricing🇬🇧🇯🇵🇫🇷
Image-based AI for vehicle damage: triage at first notice of loss, preliminary estimates, claim review and subrogation for insurers.