From AI to Orbit: Rewriting Indian Agriculture

Google, through its philanthropic arm, has committed $8 million to support four Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, one of which will focus on agriculture.

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The funding will be distributed among four institutions to strengthen India’s AI ecosystem. Among them is annam.ai at IIT Ropar, which will work on agricultural development and farmers welfare by leveraging AI.

Agriculture is a uniquely Indian priority where AI can deliver measurable socioeconomic impact. Google’s recent funding commitment, aimed at leveraging AI for social and public good across key sectors including agriculture, signals a shift from purely commercial AI applications to applied, public-purpose AI. As India is in the process of building deep research and development capabilities in AI, such funding can help bridge gaps in talent, infrastructure, and high-impact research, considering India’s need in areas crucial for improving India’s global competitiveness in AI.