PM Modi Pushes For Indigenous, Ethical AI Under IndiaAI Mission

SUMMARY

Startups that were present include Sarvam, Soket AI, Gnani, Gan, Avaatar, BharatGen, Zenteiq, Gen Loop, Intellihealth, Shodh AI, Fractal Analytics and Tech Mahindra Maker’s Lab

They were selected under the foundation model pillar outlined under the IndiaAI Mission, which focusses specifically on building native LLMs

The PM emphasised that AI models created in the country should be ethical, unbiased, transparent, and based on data privacy principles

Adding to the Centre’s ongoing push to deepen India’s AI readiness, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underscored the need for India to present a distinct AI model to the world — one that embodies the ethos of “Made in India, Made for the World”.

The remarks came during a roundtable discussion with founders of 12 homegrown AI startups, where the Prime Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to advancing the domestic AI ecosystem.

The meeting was attended by founders, CEOs and senior leaders from Avataar, BharatGen, Fractal, Gan, Genloop, Gnani, Intellihealth, Sarvam, Shodh AI, Soket AI and Zenteiq. Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State Jitin Prasada were also present.

During the interaction, PM Modi highlighted AI’s potential to transform multiple facets of society, describing the participating startups as co-architects of India’s future. He emphasised that AI models developed in the country must be ethical, unbiased, transparent and grounded in strong data privacy principles.

To accelerate the global adoption of Indian AI products, he said Indian AI should be positioned as affordable, inclusive and frugal, while also promoting indigenous content and local languages.

The startups invited to the roundtable were shortlisted under the foundation models pillar of the IndiaAI Mission, which focuses on building native large language models (LLMs) using Indic data and languages to ensure domestic capability and global competitiveness in generative AI.

Beyond LLM development, these ventures are working across a wide spectrum of AI applications, including speech-to-text, text-to-audio and text-to-video technologies; generative 3D content for ecommerce and marketing; engineering simulations; material research; advanced analytics for data-driven decision-making; and AI-led healthcare diagnostics and medical research, among others.

Meanwhile, the India AI Impact Summit is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on February 19 and 20, and is being positioned as the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South.

The IndiaAI Mission comprises seven pillars, including the foundation models initiative. Other pillars focus on providing subsidised access to high-end GPUs, app development for India-specific use cases, a national AI dataset platform (AIKosh), AI-focused skilling programmes, accelerated funding for AI-native startups, and promoting responsible AI adoption through robust governance frameworks.