Why is it in the news?

• The Union Cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission with an outlay of Rs 10,372 crore for the next five years, aiming to address a key shortcoming in unlocking opportunities around generative artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the lack of adequate computing hardware infrastructure in India.
• This approval follows the recent clearance of chip projects worth Rs 1.26 lakh crore, including plans for establishing the country’s first commercial fabrication plant.

About IndiaAI Mission

• The primary objective is to establish robust AI computing capacity in India, including the deployment of over 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) and the development of foundational models with more than 100 billion parameters.
• These resources will be trained on datasets covering major Indian languages, focusing on priority sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and governance.
• The implementation of the AI compute infrastructure will follow a public-private partnership model, with the government providing 50% viability gap funding.
• Private companies will be incentivized to set up data centres and computing facilities in the country, with a significant portion of the budget allocated for building computing infrastructure.
• Apart from hardware infrastructure, the IndiaAI Mission also includes provisions for supporting deeptech startups at various stages of growth, with approximately Rs 2,000 crore earmarked for this purpose.
• Additionally, an IndiaAI Datasets Platform will be established to facilitate the use of high-quality non-personal datasets for AI innovation, focusing on hosting identified AI-ready datasets.
• The mission also involves setting up the IndiaAI Innovation Research Centre, dedicated to developing and deploying large foundational models, with a focus on indigenous Large Multimodal Models and domain-specific foundational models.
• The rapid advancement of AI technologies has raised concerns about safety and ethical implications, prompting governments worldwide to explore regulatory frameworks.
• In India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology recently issued advisories regarding the deployment of generative AI systems, sparking discussions about the need for robust regulations in the AI domain.
• Internationally, initiatives like the European Union’s AI Act and the United States’ Executive Orders on AI aim to establish clear guidelines and safeguards to address potential risks associated with AI deployment.