Three more start-ups selected to get GPU access for Indian AI models
Three firms — Gurugram-based Soket AI, Delhi-based Gan.AI, and Bengaluru-based Gnani.ai — have been selected in the IndiaAI Mission's ongoing drive to facilitate the development of an indigenous foundational AI large language model (LLM). 'Like Sarvam AI, which was selected earlier this year as the first such firm, these three teams also have a very big target in front of them,' Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
By being selected, these firms will get access to the Common Compute facility, giving them access to thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) on which AI models are trained and deployed. With the government's facility, operated by a clutch of large tech firms like Sify, set to have a total of 34,000 GPUs soon, Mr. Vaishnaw said that the 'worry' of whether 'India will be able to get that kind of compute' is 'practically over'.
Gnani.ai co-founder Ganesh Gopalan said that the company had been 'developing voice-to-voice large language models for India and the world, because we believe transformative AI must speak the language of the people it serves.'
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's Additional Secretary Abhishek Singh said that the IndiaAI Mission has also been working on hackathons with 'allied Ministries' like the Ministry of Home Affairs — for classifying cyber crimes — and with the Geological Survey of India for mineral discovery. 'Very soon we will be working with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other ministries for launching more problem statements to give opportunities to our startups and researchers to contribute to solutions,' he said.
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