India now has a data platform to train its own AI models, work on own GPU begins

New Delhi: India unveiled its library of non-personal data sets, called AI Kosh, to help companies build large language models, the latest step by the Centre to help scale up the growth of artificial intelligence in the country. At the same time, said Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, “extensive stakeholder consultations” have begun to build “India’s own GPUs”—a process that he said will take “three to four years”. “In the long run, the idea is to gain our own advanced chip patents and make them in more sophisticated semiconductor fabrication plants that will come up in India, in the years to come,” a senior government official added regarding India’s move to build a circular supply chain for AI. “The platform to offer AI compute is now live, and India’s GPU cost will be among the lowest in the world.” Vaishnaw said that 22 applicants have applied to build foundational AI models, while the rest could build models for a wide range of use cases. Even Bhashini, Meity’s vernacular language programme, will make its Indian language data available for startups to build AI models for India’s specific needs,” Vaishnaw said.