Private players take charge to put India on global AI map

India's ambition to make a mark on the global Al map is significantly driven by private players, including big techs and startups.

- ASHUTOSH MISHRA

This is also applicable for government-led programmes, including policy formation.

Firms like Hiranandani groupbacked Yotta Infrastructure are creating GPU-based compute capacity for different government departments, entities like Wadhwani AI are continuously advising the IT Ministry on artificial intelligence (AI) policies and its global AI approach.

In a recent interaction with Business Standard, Nakul Jain, director of products and Programs, Wadhwani AI, said the firm was providing basic training and awareness to government officials around AI and emerging technologies, as a part of the capacity building exercise. "For the India AI mission, we have an agreement with the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (MeitY) and we have a dedicated team that works out of MeitY who are supporting the leadership in multiple initiatives of India AI," said Jain. He said, "Currently it's a six to eight-member team, I think around four to five of them are based out of the ministry working day in, day out, well integrated, embedded, and then there are a few folks who are supporting from outside. The idea is to grow this team further because there are multiple opportunities and we've only very recently started."