Will have sovereign AI models designed, built in India: Union Minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], March 11 : India's AI mission will help create sovereign artificial intelligence models that are designed and built in India, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference here, the Union Minister outlined the government's vision for India's artificial intelligence (AI) sector and articulated an initiative to develop the country's own foundational AI models, leveraging the success stories of platforms like ChatGPT and OpenAI on the global stage.
Emphasizing the country's journey towards developing indigenous AI capabilities, Chandrasekhar said, "We will be developing our own Indian foundational models. The world is talking about ChatGPT and OpenAI. Based on our own languages and our own India data sets we expect that as a consequence of India's AI mission, we will have sovereign AI models that are designed and built in India."
He emphasized the importance of harnessing India's diverse languages and vast datasets to create sovereign AI models tailored to Indian needs.
Underlining India's determination to make its mark in the AI landscape Chandrasekhar said, "AI Compute or AI data centres are the fundamental backbone to training AI models and one of the advantages that some of the countries in the west have who have created AI models is that they have access to this kind of infrastructure and as part of building digital infrastructure India AI will build this AI compute infrastructure."
The Union Minister further elaborated on the necessity of robust AI compute infrastructure, emphasizing its role as the backbone for training AI models.
He underscored the government's commitment to building such infrastructure as part of India's digital transformation journey.
The minister also shed light on the establishment of AI innovation centres, aligning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to fully harness the potential of AI for India's digital economy.
These innovation centres will focus on developing AI solutions across various sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, education, security, governance, and language translation.
"Our PM said in December 2023 that India expects to harness the power of AI completely for our Indian digital economy, for our Indian citizens and therefore India use cases of health, medicine discovery, agriculture, education, security, governance, language translation, are the areas that will be developed in these AI innovation centres," Chandrasekhar said.
In line with India's commitment to data protection, Chandrasekhar announced plans for a dedicated data collection platform exclusively accessible to Indian startups and companies.
This platform, focusing on non-personal data, aims to provide indigenous entities with access to critical raw material for AI development.
"You already know that we have passes the data protection law, and therefore for Artificial Intelligence, data sets are the raw material and therefore there will be a data collection platform (non-personal), that will only be available for Indian startups and Indian companies and not for foreign companies," Chandrasekhar said.
Highlighting the government's support for startup ecosystem growth, Chandrasekhar said that a substantial Rs 2000 crore has been allocated for investment in startups, signaling a robust commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.
Additionally, he announced plans to establish AI labs in collaboration with leading global technology firms, positioning Thiruvananthapuram as a hub for cutting-edge AI research and development.
"AI labs will be set up in collaboration with leading global technology name as a partner in Thiruvananthapuram," the Union Minister said.
He also said there are plans to establish 10 Artificial Intelligence (AI) labs in colleges across the city.
This initiative, undertaken in collaboration with a leading global company, he said, marks a pivotal step towards revitalizing Thiruvananthapuram's position as a technology leader and fostering a culture of innovation in the region.
Addressing the audience, Chandrasekhar emphasized the transformative potential of this initiative within the broader framework of India's AI mission.
"Today I have announced along with a leading global company the setting up of 10 AI labs in the colleges of Thiruvananthapuram. This is a very powerful, empowering and enabling move of having an India AI mission," he said.
"Thiruvananthapuram, which used to be a leader in tech in the past has slipped in technology and therefore both in semiconductors and AI, it is my intention, promise and guarantee that we'll create an ecosystem of innovation that is best in South India," Chandrasekhar said, highlighting the strategic importance of the endeavour.