India To Build Its Own 2nm GPU By 2030 To Rival NVIDIA

Centre To Develop GPUs To Foster Self-Reliance In AI Race

SUMMARY

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is working on developing a 2 nm chip which is set to be released by 2030

C-Dac has received a funding of $200 Mn to achieve this endeavor

The Centre is likely to partner with TSMC to manufacture the chips at scale and at a 50% lesser cost

In an effort to reduce its dependence on US-based chip makers for core AI technology, the Centre is reportedly planning to develop its own 2 nanometre (nm) graphics processing unit (GPU) from scratch by 2030.

With $200 Mn (around INR 1,700 Cr) in funding, engineers at Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-Dac) in Bengaluru have been tasked with developing the chip, a Mint report said, citing senior officials close to the matter.

An official further said that NVIDIA’s product roadmap shows that by 2028, cutting edge chips will be based on 2 nm mode. “These chips will be the most advanced GPUs by the time we enter 2030.”

Currently, the 3 nm chip, which is the most advanced chip, is used in Apple’s iphone.

Additionally, after developing the chip, the Centre is likely to partner with Taiwan-based chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) to manufacture the chips at scale and at a 50% lesser cost, sources revealed to Mint.

GPUs are an essential part for advancing in the artificial intelligence race and are used at AI data centres for machine learning processes.

Why India Needs To Break Its Reliance On The US For GPUs

To protect its supremacy on the development of AI technology, the US slapped export restrictions on GPUs for tier II countries which includes India. The major supply chain for GPUs is controlled by US-based firms like NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.

According to the restriction norms which are likely to be enforced by next week, India can only import 33,000 NVIDIA B200 chips, 27,000 B300 chips and can buy up to 25,000 GB200 chips. While this count can go up to 50,000 in case the country is buying H200 chips developed by NVIDIA.

Currently, the Centre is planning to import about 29,000 GPUs in total as part of its IndiaAI mission which has an outlay of about INR 10,000 Cr.

India’s Push For Becoming A Prominent AI Hub

Launched last year, the IndiaAI mission is on a mission to develop India’s indigenous large language (LLM) models. In fact, the Centre reached out to many startups and entities asking for proposals to build LLMs trained on Indian language and datasets.

Recently, the government passed proposals by Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai and Gan.ai to build LLMs. Earlier, SavramAI had received a go ahead from the Centre to build an AI model.

The Centre had received more than 500 proposals from multiple startups and GenAI entities to develop India’s sovereign AI models.