Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced the Modi 3.0 government's strategic initiative to spearhead the domestic manufacturing of AI chipsets.
Vaishnaw highlighted the importance of this move, stating, "The next on our agenda, which we will look in the third term of the Modi government, is making AI chipsets." He emphasized that AI chipsets, which encompass graphics processing units (GPUs) and other computing hardware, are vital for the development of AI models, as they require large-scale computing capabilities beyond the capacity of central processing units (CPUs).
Acknowledging the dominance of the US and China in the computing infrastructure required for AI technology, Vaishnaw emphasized on the need for India to cultivate its own capabilities in this domain.
"At present, the US-based Nvidia dominates the GPU market with about 88% market share," he noted.
"If they partner with us, together we will be able to make GPUs with processing capacity close to that of Nvidia’s over a period of time. It will be a win-win situation for both sides", the minister added.
Vaishnaw also stressed the importance of collaboration with global firms in a public-private partnership mode, stating, "The government alone would not be able to do everything."
He revealed plans for the AI mission to work in PPP mode to establish a public AI compute infrastructure comprising 10,000 or more GPUs, essential for AI innovation.
The minister's announcement comes in the wake of the Union Cabinet's approval of the Rs 10,372-crore AI mission.
Vaishnaw expressed optimism about the potential of this initiative, drawing parallels with the success witnessed in domestic mobile manufacturing.
"With the success in domestic mobile manufacturing, electronics manufacturing has gathered pace in the country," Vaishnaw stated. "Going ahead, we will see many global players set up mega manufacturing campuses in the country."
Analysts have hailed the government's initiative, envisioning a transformative impact akin to the success witnessed in smartphone and semiconductor manufacturing. They emphasize the need for an attractive incentive structure to galvanize domestic production in this domain.
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