Aravind Srinivas, CEO and co-founder of Perplexity AI, has publicly committed to personally investing $1 million and five hours per week to support the development of indigenous AI foundation models in India. Srinivas articulated his belief that India must demonstrate an "ISRO-like feat for AI," emphasizing the nation's capability to achieve significant breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, akin to its space program. His statement addresses a perceived misconception about the prohibitive costs of training such advanced models.
In a recent social media post, Srinivas stated, > "Re India training its foundation models debate: I feel like India fell into the same trap I did while running Perplexity. Thinking models are going to cost a shit ton of money to train. But India must show the world that it's capable of ISRO-like feet for AI." He further added his personal financial and time commitment to a qualified group pursuing this goal.
Srinivas's call aligns with India's broader national strategy to foster self-reliance in cutting-edge technologies. The Indian government launched the IndiaAI Mission, a multi-billion dollar initiative, with a core objective of building robust AI infrastructure and developing foundational AI models trained specifically on Indian datasets. This strategic move aims to ensure linguistic, cultural, and contextual relevance, while also addressing concerns around data sovereignty and reducing dependence on foreign AI models.
Under the IndiaAI Innovation Initiative, the government has invited proposals from startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs to collaborate on creating state-of-the-art foundational AI models. The initiative has received an overwhelming response, with hundreds of proposals submitted across various phases, indicating strong domestic interest and capability. Projects like Sarvam-1, a 2-billion-parameter model trained in 10 Indian languages, exemplify the ongoing efforts to build AI solutions tailored to India's diverse linguistic landscape.
This national push for indigenous AI models is seen as crucial for India's technological independence and its ambition to become a global hub for scalable AI solutions. The emphasis on local development not only strengthens national security and strategic autonomy but also aims to create new employment opportunities by fostering AI proficiency among the younger generation, according to Srinivas.