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Driven by global advancements in artificial intelligence, India is accelerating its efforts to achieve AI independence. Despite its status as a tech powerhouse, the nation has historically trailed behind in homegrown AI development, a consequence of underinvestment in research and development combined with a service-oriented focus. However, a new era is dawning, marked by significant government support and active collaboration within the private sector, fueling the rapid development of India’s AI infrastructure and talent pool.

A significant hurdle lies in India’s vast linguistic diversity, encompassing 22 officially recognized languages. Indian startups are addressing this challenge by creating specialized language models tailored for these languages. A notable example is Sarvam AI’s OpenHathi-Hi-v0.1, an open-source Hindi language model showcasing this focused effort.

The Indian government is demonstrating its commitment through the IndiaAI Mission, a substantial investment initiative offering startups access to essential resources like GPUs and funding for foundational models. The ultimate objective is to construct globally competitive AI solutions rooted in the unique linguistic and cultural context of India and the Global South.

The path to achieving AI sovereignty sparks discussions on the merits of open-source versus closed models. Regardless of the approach chosen, the core objective remains constant: to cultivate robust and effective Indian AI models. According to reporting in MIT Technology Review, India is confident in its ability to forge its own distinctive path, with startups and researchers prioritizing software-level efficiencies and the development of smaller models to navigate existing infrastructure limitations.