Government to develop custom AI model for Indian use, US$ 240.2 million (Rs. 2,000 crore) allocated

The government plans to chart its course in artificial intelligence (AI) by developing a bespoke foundational model tailored to the needs of Indian companies, entrepreneurs, academics, and researchers. This ambitious initiative will begin with an initial investment of US$ 240.2 million (Rs. 2,000 crore), slated for launch after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The proposed endeavour is expected to position India alongside nations like China and the US, which have already embarked on similar initiatives. The IndiaAI Innovation Centre is anticipated to lead this project, established under the US$ 1.20 billion (Rs. 10,000 crore) IndiaAI Mission.

A senior official mentioned that the government would likely collaborate with eminent higher education institutes and prominent AI researchers in the private sector to develop the foundational model. Envisioned as either a large action model (LAM) or a large multimodal model (LMM), it aims to produce outputs catering to various applications and services. Foundational models, essentially pre-trained generative transformers, are the cornerstone for developing other AI models using existing data to generate new responses based on user inputs. Addressing India's specific requirements and preferences, the official stated, the foundational model will aim to provide output in more than one native language, building on the work done so far on projects such as Bhashini.

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