Tech companies are pouring billions into Indian AI efforts, on the backdrop of a major AI summit in the country.
This comes as record sums are being ploughed into AI as governments and companies attempt to join the global race in rolling out the technology.
Major tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet announced capital expenditure that could hit US$700 billion on AI this year.
India’s tech group Reliance is attempting to join the race by investing $109.8 billion over the next seven years to build AI and data infrastructure.
The ports-to-power group Adani Group also said it would invest $100 billion in renewable energy-powered AI data centres over the next decade. The company said this investment is expected to trigger an additional $150 billion across related industries, including server manufacturing and sovereign cloud platforms.
U.S. tech firms also announced large investments in India.
At the Indian AI Summit, Microsoft said it would invest $50 billion in AI in the Global South by the end of the decade.
OpenAI and chipmaker AMD also announced partnerships with the Tata Group to build AI capabilities, and U.S. asset manager Blackstone also said it had participated in a $600 million equity raise for Indian AI infrastructure Neysa.
The commitments were announced during a summit that was also marked by points of controversy.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates withdrew from the event amid public backlash for his past relationship with deceased financier and sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
An Indian university was also criticised after claiming it had invented a commercially available Chinese-made robot dog.
The AI summit comes as India attempts to become one of the world’s AI superpowers.
India has already approved $18 billion of chip projects as it looks to bolster its supply chain.
