Govt eyeing to acquire 10,000 GPUs to bolster AI development

The government is planning to bolster the nation's computational infrastructure by acquiring 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) within the next 18 months. Through a post on X, former Niti Ayog CEO and India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant wrote this move is expected to enhance India's processing power, bringing its computational capabilities in line with its data generation. He further added that AI will be a defining opportunity for India.

“This is expected to enhance India's processing power, bringing its computational capabilities in line with its data generation,” Kant wrote on X.

“India generates 20 percent of the world’s data. India also holds the position of having the second-highest number of GitHub AI projects globally, accounting for 19 percent of worldwide AI projects. This demonstrates our vibrant and active engagement in AI development on an international scale,” Kant said in his post.

A recent report from CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd found that India has emerged as the leading country in the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) for data centre capacity, with a capacity of 950 MW, surpassing other major nations such as Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore and Korea.

In spite of India now having over 100 generative AI startups, the investment into the space has been comparatively small. The US saw nearly $250 billion in private investments into AI startups between 2013 and 2022, while investments in India stood at just $8 billion.