Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani inaugurated an artificial intelligence (AI) centre in Pune on Sunday, which has been funded by his group.
The Sharadchandra Pawar Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence at Baramati in Maharashtra has been established under Vidya Pratishthan, the educational institute governed by the family of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, whom Adani shares close ties with.
Also present at the occasion were the NCP (SP) chief, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, his wife and Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar, Baramati MP Supriya Sule, and members of the extended Pawar family. NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar and Yugendra Pawar, who is the treasurer of Vidya Pratisthan were also in attendance.
The Adani Group entered into a transformative partnership to enhance AI collaboration by formally signing an MoU with Vidya Pratishthan, Baramati.
“This partnership is a commitment to build applied technological capability, where AI research, engineering, and execution move together in an integrated fashion,” Adani said in his inaugural address, adding that Baramati stands as a symbol of one such transformation.
Recounting his association with Pawar, Adani said he feels “blessed” to have known the leader for more than three decades now.
“What I have learned from him has no parallel. But beyond knowledge, it is his wisdom, his affection, and his deep empathy that leave the strongest imprint,” he said.
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On AI and its significant impact on the world, especially future technology, the industrialist said the “seeds of tomorrow will be planted in algorithm”.
“Human progress does not move in a straight line. It advances in leaps. Each leap is propelled by a technology revolution that first unsettles society, and then rebuilds it at a far higher level of capability,” he said.
AI, in fact, would be the harbinger of the fourth industrial revolution, he said, with the first harnessing the power of steam and mechanization; the second bringing in electrification and mass production and the third connecting the world through digital computing and the internet.
“Today, we are living through the fourth industrial revolution, an age defined by artificial intelligence,” he said.
“AI is said to become the fourth foundation, embedding capability, decision-making, and productivity into every corner of the nation. Imagine that over this decade, as 1.4 billion Bhartiya start to carry AI-powered intelligence in the palm of their hands, progress will no longer be linear. It will compound, accelerate, and explode,” he added.
Talking about the “double-edged sword” that technology is, the billionaire said “growth without sovereignty creates dependence. And progress without control creates risk”.
“What history teaches us is that every such transition carries two opposing forces. Extraordinary opportunity and profound anxiety. Fear of displacement, fear of irrelevance, fear of giving up control to systems, we do not yet fully understand,” to underscore his belief that AI won’t disrupt jobs.
“While job creation is vital, a nation of 1.4 billion people cannot afford to place its jobs, data, culture, and collective intelligence at the mercy of foreign algorithms and foreign balance sheets,” he stated, and called for India-made AI models that require the expertise and talent of the country’s youth.
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