AI startups held back by lack of GPU clusters in Sri Lanka

INFORMATION Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Board Member and Microimage Founder and CEO Harsha Purasinghe at a webinar last Saturday (27) on 'How AI Is Reshaping Jobs, Skills and the Workplace' said Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping skills, workplaces, and business models, but Sri Lanka must urgently address gaps in computing capacity or Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) clusters, infrastructure, data readiness, and education to capture its potential.

- 

Purasinghe noted that AI entrepreneurs face high entry barriers due to the lack of local computing capacity.

The webinar was organised by the Daily FT, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka, Women in Management, the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors, MBA Alumni Association of the University of Colombo, Employers' Federation of Ceylon, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and BIMT Campus.

Sri Lanka does not yet have GPU clusters within its data centres, forcing startups to rely on public hyperscalers. A GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is a type of computer chip that can perform thousands of calculations simultaneously, making it essential for training AI models. While CPUs can process tasks sequentially, GPUs are required to run large volumes of data through models quickly and costeffectively.

"You can come up with fantastic ideas, but you need to train your models and experiment. For a startup, the biggest challenge is paying for compute," Purasinghe said.