EXCLUSIVE: Michael Dell acknowledges India’s desire for sovereign AI, says it’s an attractive market | Technology News
India’s efforts to build its own AI playbook and ambitions to make a significant impact in artificial intelligence have caught the attention of Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies. The billionaire CEO behind one of the world’s largest IT companies and a leading PC vendor says India’s strong economy, availability of tech talent, and push to lead in AI make it an attractive market for a company like Dell.
“India has talent and is a great resource for Dell and many other companies, but there is a desire for sovereign AI,” he told indianexpress.com at a roundtable during the Dell Technologies World event, which kicked off Monday in Las Vegas.
On the global stage, New Delhi has pitched itself to lead in artificial intelligence, with the goal not just to compete with generative AI models created by big tech but to create its own AI ecosystem. However, this requires building the AI computer infrastructure from scratch, alongside cultivating AI talent and developing and deploying indigenous large language models. Building a highly scalable AI compute infrastructure with the latest generation GPUs may not come cheap, though. With the Union Cabinet recently approving a national-level India Artificial Intelligence mission with a budget outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore, doors are opened to build AI compute infrastructure and boost the local AI ecosystem through public and private partnerships.
India joins Saudi Arabia, UK, France, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the global race to shape the future of AI technology. Interest in AI has boomed since ChatGPT, a large-language model developed by Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, became a viral sensation when it was released in November 2022. With fierce competition coming from Silicon Valley majors and AI nationalism at an all-time high, Indian startups are now developing their own models.
At the Vegas event, Dell announced significant strides in the adoption of artificial intelligence across sectors and highlighted how the technology can benefit enterprises. It introduced an AI factory to accelerate enterprise AI integration in collaboration with Nvidia. As Dell and Nvidia describe it, an AI Factory is an intelligent bundling of the components required to deploy AI solutions quickly and painlessly.
“We are moving from computation towards cognition into the age of AI. It took years before we ran electricity through buildings, and an automated way for tasks was the purpose of building machines that plug into the wall. That’s kind of where we are right now with AI,” Dell said, addressing a packed hall full of partners.
The writer is attending the Dell Technologies World event in Las Vegas at the invitation of Dell India.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 21-05-2024 at 08:23 IST
