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Tag: Ashwini Vaishnaw

  • Vaishnaw Claims India’s Local Foundational AI Platform to be Ready in Ten Months

    On February 4, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that a local foundational AI platform is anticipated in ten months, and that India may be able to develop its own high-end processing hardware, known as GPUs, in the next three to five years.

    Vaishnaw stated that the government will provide 18,000 top-tier GPU-based computing facilities for AI development to entities in the nation within the next few days and anticipates India’s own AI platform within ten months during a Budget Roundtable 2025 hosted by two renowned media houses.

    According to Vaishnav, the Ministry is considering three different solutions, each of which would include building the country’s own GPU using a chipset that is reasonably priced and either open source or licensed. The entire world has adopted this strategy, which will enable each nation to have its own GPU within three to five years.

    Surge in GPU’s Demand

    In the past, multimedia content processing involving several computational operations, such as gaming and video processing, was handled by GPUs (graphics processing units). However, the global demand for AI has caused a sharp increase in the demand for GPUs, and the US chip manufacturer Nvidia controls more than 80% of the industry. According to the minister, Indian Railways increased the confirmed ticket rate by 27% by leveraging AI models, and a number of start-ups have grown really effectively, albeit in comparison to ChatGPT.

    According to him, developing artificial intelligence models requires high-end computing equipment, which can only be purchased by wealthy individuals. However, the government has put in place a system that allows everyone to access computing infrastructure at a reasonable cost. Vaishnaw added that researchers, academicians, companies, institutions, and IITs may all access this computing capability and use it to launch foundational models.

    When asked whether India would have its own foundational model for AI, Vaishnaw responded, “10 months is the outer limit.”  According to him, there are numerous research papers that essentially discuss mathematical techniques that, for instance, the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek has employed to make the entire process extremely effective.

    Make In India Churning Jobs for Indians

    According to Vaishnaw, 12 lakh direct and indirect jobs have been created by the government’s mobile manufacturing division under the Make in India initiative. In order to demonstrate the degree of quality and accuracy attained by Indian electronic industries, he displayed a metallic object that was made up of numerous precisely linked pieces, without any apparent lines.

    He claimed that it took three years for a well-known Indian business to reach the high degree of accuracy needed by a vendor to supply parts for the production of Apple and Samsung’s high-end smartphones.

    India now produces a number of goods and parts needed in the mobile phone sector, such as chargers, battery packs, various mechanics, USB cables, keypads, display assemblies, camera modules, lithium-ion batteries, speakers and microphones, vibrator motors, and more, according to the minister.

    India Develops Its Own LLM to Tackle AI Challenges
    India is developing its own large language model (LLM) to strengthen its AI capabilities, ensuring technological independence and competitiveness in the global AI landscape.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • Union Minister: DeepSeek On Indian Servers Will Soon Address Privacy Issues

    India will soon host the Chinese AI platform DeepSeek on local servers, according to Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in order to allay privacy worries about cross-border data transfers. Since DeepSeek is an open-source AI model that may be hosted on Indian servers, the minister stated as much during a news conference on the IndiaAI Mission. “This project is currently being worked on by our team. The framework and other information, including the number of servers and capacity needed, have been prepared, Vaishnaw stated.

    Strengthening Country’s Data Protection System

    In keeping with the nation’s worries about data protection, Vaishnaw also stated that all of the open-source models will soon be housed on Indian servers. The IT community was recently rocked by DeepSeek‘s ability to create its own LLM using just 2,000 Nvidia H800 GPUs. For comparison, OpenAI‘s ChatGPT-4 uses one lakh GPUs, specifically the more sophisticated H100. Furthermore, the Chinese business asserted that, in contrast to OpenAI’s $100 million investment, it was able to accomplish this with a mere $6 million.

    The development coincides with the government’s efforts to safeguard Indians’ digital data, as data protection has become a major area of attention. The draft regulations for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act were recently made available for public comment until February 18 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

    India’s Plan on Building its Own AI Foundation Model

    According to the draft, data fiduciaries—entities that decide how personal data is processed—must give data principals—end users whose data they are collecting—all the specific information they need to give them so they can decide whether or not to use their personal data. In the meantime, DeepSeek’s success has sparked a discussion in India about the necessity of creating its own core models. Vaishnaw stated during the conference that India intends to use the IndiaAI Mission to develop its own huge language models.

    Abhishek Singh, additional secretary, Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), stated during his visit to GIFT City in Gujarat on 27 January that India is seeking proposals for developing its own foundational model in order to compete with foreign AI foundational models that serve as the basis for numerous applications such as ChatGPT and Gemini. He added that how India creates a basic model has been a major problem.

    At the moment, every core model that a nation uses, including ChatGPT, Llama 3, Gemini, and Claude, is foreign. China has now developed Deepseek and other models as well. To create an Indian foundational model, India must invest and offer financial assistance. The foreign fundamental models can provide incorrect or unsuitable answers because they were trained on western data sets and are not adapted to Indian languages and contexts.

    India Develops Its Own LLM to Tackle AI Challenges
    India is developing its own large language model (LLM) to strengthen its AI capabilities, ensuring technological independence and competitiveness in the global AI landscape.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • India Prepares for the AI Challenge by Developing its Own LLM Fundamental Model

    IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on January 30 that the Indian government has chosen to develop a large language model of its own domestically as part of the INR 10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission, just days after a startup Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) lab unveiled the low-cost foundational model DeepSeek.

    Additionally, the government has chosen ten businesses to provide 18,693 graphics processing units, or GPUs—high-end CPUs required to create machine learning tools that can be used to build a basic model. These firms include CMS Computers, Ctrls Datacenters, Locuz Enterprise Solutions, NxtGen Datacenter, Orient Technologies, Jio Platforms, Tata Communications, Yotta, which is funded by the Hiranandani Group, and Vensysco Technologies. Yotta has promised to supply 9,216 GPUs, which accounts for over half of the total.

    According to Vaishnaw, ministry teams have been collaborating closely with professors, researchers, startups, and others for the past one and a half years. The government is currently soliciting ideas for creating India’s own basic model. The model is free of prejudices and will take into account the Indian background, languages, and culture.

    Sharing his views on the subject, Giridhar LV, CEO and Co-founder, Nuvepro Technologies opoined, “India’s AI journey is no longer about catching up—it’s about leading with innovation. With the rapid advancements in AI, India is stepping up by developing its own Large Language Model (LLM)—a foundational AI model tailored to the country’s diverse linguistic and industry needs. Unlike generic global models, this initiative aims to create an AI framework deeply rooted in India’s unique datasets, regional languages, and cultural nuances. By investing in homegrown AI capabilities, India is ensuring data sovereignty, reduced dependency on foreign models, and AI solutions that align with local industries. The push towards indigenous AI development also aligns with the government’s Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, fostering self-reliance in technology.”

    Focus on Developing Fundamental Model

    In addition, Vaishnaw stated that the government is in contact with a minimum of six developers to construct the foundational model, which may take four to eight months. “In the coming months, we will have a world-class foundational model,” the minister stated. However, he omitted to mention the companies the government is currently in contact with or the estimated cost of building the model. Regarding assisting with the acquisition of computing power, Vaishnaw stated that approximately 10,000 GPUs out of the 18,693 that have been authorised for empanelment are prepared for installation today.

    In a few days, the government will open a shared computing facility where researchers and businesses can access the power of computers. Higher-end GPU access will cost INR 150 per hour, while lower-end GPU use would cost Rs 115.85 per hour. The government would provide end customers with a 40% price subsidy to further facilitate access to these services.

    Proposal from IndiaAI Mission

    The IndiaAI Mission’s plan states that the bids for building LLMs will be shortlisted based on a number of criteria, including the approach’s innovativeness, scalability and sustainability, financial viability, and ethical considerations, among others.

    Additionally, the Centre will choose candidates based on the teams’ abilities, the viability of the submissions, and their potential impact. According to a blog post on the IndiaAI website, a panel of experts will analyse the submitted proposals before inviting the chosen candidates for a thorough presentation. It is anticipated that startups aiming to create an LLM that is developed domestically will also have access to this AI compute. Although it is still unclear if the prospective foundational AI model will be implemented, optimism depends on India’s startup ecosystem’s resourcefulness, inventiveness, and talent pool.

    MeitY Seeks Ideas for India’s AI Foundation Paradigm
    MeitY invites proposals to create India’s own AI foundation paradigm, encouraging innovative ideas for a robust and future-ready artificial intelligence framework.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • To Protect Children from Harm in Digital Spaces, DPDP Regulations will be Further Improved: Vaishnaw

    According to reports, the Centre is trying to improve the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules in order to protect kids from online dangers and encourage their use of technology. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated in a media agency report that the rules will change in response to lessons learnt from their application. “We will continue to improve it (DPDP Rules) to give kids access to technology while protecting them from numerous risks,” he stated. The draft DPDP Rules 2025 were made public by the government on January 3 and are available for public comment until February 18, 2024. Users under the age of 18 are considered children under the DPDP Act, which requires social media companies and other online intermediaries—known as data fiduciaries—to get express parental approval before processing any kid data.

    What New Drafted Rules State?

    According to the draft regulations, digital platforms are only permitted to process a child’s data with a verified parent or guardian’s approval. Either a virtual token issued by a legally authorised entity or freely supplied identity and age information can be used for verification. According to Vaishnaw, the token system has worked well in a number of situations, including transaction verifications based on Aadhaar. He clarified that the tokens will be transient and only be used for one transaction before being instantly destroyed. The minister added that if necessary, sector-specific guidelines might be released, but only after speaking with stakeholders and experts in the relevant area.

    Individual Privacy will Remain Intact

    Virtual token verification won’t jeopardise personal privacy, according to Vaishnaw. He affirmed that because whistleblowers are legally protected, they would not be impacted by the DPDP Act. He added that the DPDP Act has no restrictions on the number of complaints that can be filed. According to a report from last year, social media companies are looking into ways to comply with the DPDP Act of 2023, such as using QR codes, virtual Aadhaar IDs, or app store-level age verification. Industry executives, however, objected to this clause because they were worried about the privacy implications of using these tools to determine the ages of children and confirm parental relationships.

    Strict Compliances are the Need of the Hour

    S. Krishnan, Secretary of the Government of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), claims that compliance is really increasing dramatically and that a great number of cases are resolved before the blocking issue is even raised. They act on it right away. According to their own community guidelines or the government’s removal demands for illegal content, they now complete these tasks much more quickly than they did in the past.

    There has been a noticeable increase in both the quantity and timeliness of items removed. These cover topics including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), inappropriate information of all kinds, and anything that could sabotage peace in the community, S. Krishnan noted further.

    Centre Empowers GST Officer to Block Tax-Evading Gaming Websites
    The Centre designates a GST officer to block websites of online gaming companies evading taxes, intensifying efforts to curb tax violations.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde