Google CEO Sundar Pichai said India is set to see an “extraordinary trajectory” with artificial intelligence, citing high adoption and optimism for AI in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit, he said AI can help India “leapfrog age-old gaps” and create new opportunities, including in healthcare and education.
Pichai also announced the India-America Connect Initiative to build new sub-sea cable routes, aimed at improving AI connectivity between the US, India and parts of the southern hemisphere. On skilling, he unveiled new training efforts, including a Google AI professional certificate programme, with India partnerships such as Wadhwani AI, starting in English and Hindi with more Indian languages planned.
He added that Google will partner with Karmayogi Bharat, with Google Cloud providing secure infrastructure for a platform supporting over 20 million public servants across 800 districts in 18 Indian languages. Pichai also announced a $30 million Google.org AI for Science Impact Challenge, along with initiatives like bringing GenAI tools to 10,000 schools via Atal Tinkering Labs and a Google DeepMind partnership with the Indian government to expand access to frontier AI capabilities.
