Data, chips, and India's AI mission

The Rs-10,372-crore initiative seeks to position the country as a global Al powerhouse, enhancing its capacity for research and innovation

- VERNIKA AWAL

Ever since the advent of ChatGPT in November 2022, the world has never been the same. Every industry and way of life has been touched by Artificial Intelligence (AI), a field that had until then remained a matter for researchers, techies and tech journalists to discuss.

Fast forward to today, and AI has emerged as an allpervasive field that involves data, policies, governance, education, civil society and geopolitics-all under one umbrella. It is perhaps because of this that the Rs 10,372-crore India AI Mission, announced on 7 March, has proved to be a seminal moment.

Before we delve into the Mission and what it could potentially achieve, it is important to understand why nations around the world are looking to establish their own AI policies and strategies. AI today is feeding upon what we call the currency of the modern world-data.

The latter is not just proprietary and sensitive-it is what populous nations such as India have as leverage over smaller economies. To safeguard this, though, cyber security strategies are just not enough.

To leverage the data, global corporations and governments today need computing power, which in the modern-day AI world is supplied through graphic processing units (GPUs). The latter was once only known for producing ultra-high fidelity graphics resolutions on computers and consoles while playing games. Today, GPUs have emerged as the most efficient processors of vast troves of data. Companies that operate data centres, such as Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group's Yotta Data Services, are procuring such GPUs en masse to offer paying clients a platform to get access to AI processing capability.