AI AI Yo: 'Student' Modi gees up Artificial Intelligence

WASHINGTON: He once joked that the first word children in India utter is AI (mother in some Indian languages). He later wisecracked that AI means artificial intelligence for the world, but for him, it also meant American-Indian spirit. All kidding aside, PM Narendra Modi offered a full-spectrum embrace of the rapidly evolving field, saying it could address many issues in another AI – "Aspirational India" -- despite apprehensions in some quarters that it could dampen job creation in a country with a massive unemployment problem.

In a meeting on Sunday in New York with 15 corporate titans, including AI leaders Jensen Huang of nVidia and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet/Google, Modi displayed immense enthusiasm and little hesitation in embracing the evolving technology landscape during what his office called a "deep dive" into the subject. Asserting that India’s policy is to promote AI for All, underpinned by its ethical and responsible use, he invited tech companies to take advantage of India’s growth story for collaboration to co-develop, co-design, and co-produce in India for the world.

The PM's pitch impressed nVidia honcho Huang, who has powered the company towards the $ 3 trillion club (behind only Apple and Microsoft), and who emerged from the meeting saying "Modi is an incredible student. Every time I meet him, he wants to learn more about technology." Talking up nVidia's already significant collaborations in India, Huang pledged more, gushing "AI really democratises computing, and this is India’s moment." Google's Sundar Pichai, hot on the heels of nVidia for AI leadership, likewise spoke of taking up Modi's challenge of doing more in terms of AI to benefit the people of India.

While CEOs of major pharma and biotech companies including Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Moderna, and Biogen also attended the meeting, AI and its leap into India hogged the limelight at a time Washington is getting increasingly leery of technology transfer, while at the same time trying to make an India exception. Even as Modi was engaging the CEOs in New York, the US commerce department on Sunday proposed a ban on the sale or import of smart vehicles that use Chinese and Russian technology because of national security concerns. Separately, a Republican-led US Congressional committee has come down heavily on American academia and industry for helping advance China's technological advances, warning that it may one day influence any prospective war between the two countries.

While US academia and tech companies are rapidly dialing down on collaboration with China and inflow of Chinese students in advanced tech studies in the US is dwindling, India is enjoying an extended honeymoon, although it is hard to say how long this will last. At the Quad summit over the weekend, New Delhi found itself buttonholed into a de facto security alliance against a Beijing-led axis, even as the situation on the border with China appears to be de-escalating.

US trust in tie-ups with India is powered partly by the many Indian-Americans heading US tech companies. At least three attended the meeting with Modi, who only hours earlier joked that AI meant American Indian for him -- Google's Pichai, IBM's Arvind Krishna, and Adobe's Shantanu Narayen. At the engagement, Modi also assured the business leaders of India’s "deep commitment" to protection of intellectual property, a constant bugaboo for US administrations.