Google Partners TN Govt To Build AI-Led Ecosystem, Explore Pixel 8 Phones Manufacturing

Tech giant Google has inked a pact with the Tamil Nadu government to explore manufacturing of its ‘Made in India’ Pixel 8 smartphones, skill development and build an industrial ecosystem, enabling MSMEs to create scalable AI solutions.

Google has signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the visiting Tamil Nadu’s chief minister M K Stalin at its Mountain View office in California in the presence of senior company officials, including Google Cloud vice president and head of platform Amit Zavery and TRB Rajaa, minister for industries, among others.

The tech giant would work with guidance (of the state government backed nodal agency to promote investments) to support the development of a robust AI ecosystem in the state, under the terms of agreement.

“The Made in India Pixel 8 devices manufacturing is underway, happening in Tamil Nadu through local partnerships,” said Google in a statement.

This will comprise access provision to advanced technologies and resources, emphasising empowering individuals, businesses and government entities to leverage AI for inclusive growth and progress, the company added.

The development comes on the back of the MoU signed between the state government and the search engine provider in Chennai to set up ‘Tamil Nadu AI Labs’, a day ago.

Few weeks ago, the big tech major kicked off the production of its flagship Pixel 8 smartphone in India, in a post on X.

Under the MoU, Google would also collaborate with the state government to upskill Tamil Nadu’s workforce with AI capabilities, explore AI learning initiatives under the ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ scheme, mentioned the report.

“We are happy to collaborate with Google on advanced manufacturing, including the recently announced Made in India Pixel 8 phone being manufactured in Tamil Nadu. The MoU signed today will explore key AI initiatives under the Tamil Nadu AI labs,” industries minister TRB Rajaa was quoted as saying in the report.

In August, vice-president of Google’s mobile business Nanda Ramachandran told news agency PTI that the premium smartphone segment in the country is poised to outpace many of the tech giant’s other major markets.

“India is a fantastic growing market and we believe that the premium smartphone market in India will exceed pretty much any top markets that we play in, and we want to be a strong player in that market,” Ramachandran said on the sidelines of the company’s flagship “Made By Google” event.

For quite some time now, Tamil Nadu has been gaining a lot of traction from global tech companies to set up their manufacturing units in the state.

For instance, Apple vendor and Foxconn affiliate Foxlink was known to have set up a new manufacturing unit near Chennai, TN.

The IOS maker also kicked off training many workers at its Tamil Nadu factory to make iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models, earlier this month, where it also revealed its plans to assemble its premium models of the upcoming iPhone 16 series in India for the first time through partner Foxconn.

Updated at 03:42 PM