IBM Signs MoU With Gujarat Govt To Deploy AI Cluster At GIFT City

The Gujarat government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with big tech major IBM to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) cluster at the Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City. 

In a statement, IBM said that the cluster will leverage the tech giant’s GenAI platform watsonx to foster innovation and collaboration among financial institutions at the City. 

As part of the pact, IBM will also offer financial institutions assistance in providing proof of concept and access to AI Sandbox, AI literacy programmes, and digital assistant solutions. 

In essence, the US-based tech juggernaut will offer cloud-based platforms to enable financial institutions to fine-tune large language AI models (LLMs) in a sandbox environment. Meanwhile, the potential digital assistant solutions will facilitate the deployment of these customised LLMs for financial institutions.

In addition, IBM will also develop a curriculum centred on AI for schools and universities across the state. Under the partnership, IBM will also offer certification programmes for professionals in Gujarat to upskill them in the emerging technology. IBM said that the initiative is part of its larger plan to train 30 Mn people globally by 2030 and 2 Mn learners in AI by the end of 2026.

“This MoU with IBM will help Gujarat to lead the country in efforts to adopt AI and drive digital transformation,” said Gujarat chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel.

Commenting on the announcement, IBM India and South Asia managing director Sandip Patel added, “This collaboration is a significant step in our continued association with the Government of Gujarat to accelerate the digital transformation of the state. By establishing this AI cluster, our aim is to make the latest AI solutions easily accessible to the vibrant and growing number of financial institutions in GIFT City”.

The slew of initiatives are expected to give a major fillip to GIFT City by deploying GenAI. The development came on the same day as Nifty IX said that GIFT Nifty recorded its highest ever monthly turnover of 21.23 lakh contracts worth INR 7.97 Lakh Cr ($95.55 Bn) during the month of June.

This comes at a time when the Indian financial services and fintech sector is rapidly adopting the technology to improve customer service, efficiency, and reduce costs.

Vatsal Kanakiya, CTO at 100X.VC, recently told Inc42 that GenAI could see use cases in digitising and automating multiple redundant manual business processes within the sector. But, these company-specific LLMs are difficult to build from scratch. 

As a result, a slew of new Indian startups have emerged with offerings focussed on the sector including names such as Gnani.ai, Slang Labs, Vitrai.AI, and Alltius. As a result, the booming Indian GenAI space is witnessing healthy interest from investors. 

As per Inc42, homegrown GenAI startups have raised more than $600 Mn between 2019 and 2023. And the number is only expected to go up. 

The GenAI push also comes at a time when the Centre has rapidly ramped up its focus on promoting GIFT City as a global financial hub and a virtual offshore destination for startups and investors. 

As a result, both global and domestic investors are making a beeline for the much touted City. Earlier this month, Chennai-based VC firm Unifi Capital launched two new funds at IFSCA while the union government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also inked a $23 Mn loan agreement to spur research and innovation in the fintech space at the City in March. 

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