‘Google eyes investments in AI infra, drone mfg in India’

BENGALURU: Google is exploring investments in India, spanning artificial intelligence infrastructure as well as server and drone manufacturing, Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday, signalling a possible expansion of the tech giant’s ambitions, beyond cloud and startup initiatives.“Google is exploring investments in India across AI infrastructure and the manufacturing of servers and drones,” Vaishnaw said in a post on X after meeting Google executives.The reference to manu-facturing is significant as Google’s India investments have so far largely centred on cloud, AI skilling and startup ecosystem programmes rather than local hardware production.The development comes months after Google Cloud announced what it described as its largest India investment to date — a proposed $15-billion investment between 2026 and 2030 to establish its first AI hub in India at Visakhapatnam. The project includes gigawatt-scale data centre operations, expanded fibre infrastructure and AI compute capacity.Google has also intensified its India-focused AI ecosystem efforts through startup accelerators and developer programmes.On Friday, Google and Antler India launched “Google for Startups Immersion,” a programme aimed at founders and technical leaders building AI-led companies with live products and early traction. Separately, Google opened applications for the third cohort of Google Play Accelerator India, an equity-free initiative for AI-powered app and gaming startups.