India AI, Meta India ink pact to spur advancements in AI, emerging tech

India AI and Meta India on Wednesday signed a pact to foster collaboration in the field of AI and emerging technologies, making Meta's open-source AI models available for use by the Indian ecosystem, according to an official release.

India AI is an Independent Business Unit under Digital India Corporation.

The MoU aims to establish a framework for collaboration and cooperation between India AI and Meta in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, including making Meta's open-source AI models available for use by the Indian ecosystem.

"India AI and Meta have entered into a collaboration aimed at advancing research and development in AI and emerging technologies, seeking breakthroughs in AI technology and its applications," the release said.

Both organisations may also consider establishing a Centre of Excellence to nurture the startup ecosystem of AI and other emerging technologies.

"Leveraging Meta's AI research models like LlaMA, Massively Multilingual Speech, and No Language Left Behind, the partnership will focus on building data sets in Indian Languages to enable translation and large language models, with priority given to low-resource languages," it said.

The effort will foster social inclusion, improve government service delivery, and spur innovation using large language models, Generative AI, cognitive systems and translation models.

The two sides will strive to enhance accessibility to AI computing resources for researchers, startups and organisations with limited resources. Knowledge sharing and collaboration in AI and emerging technologies will be facilitated through workshops, seminars, conferences and similar platforms.

"Both organisations are dedicated to developing programmes and initiatives that enhance AI and Emerging Technologies skills and expertise among researchers, professionals and students in India, contributing to the growth of AI talent in the country," the release said.

India AI and Meta share a common goal of raising awareness about the new-age technologies' potential benefits and risks among various stakeholders, including policymakers, businesses, civil society and the general public.

They will also work together to promote responsible AI practices through the collaborative development of comprehensive tools and guidelines.

Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta, said the company's open approach to AI innovation is complementary to India's leadership on digital issues.

"Giving businesses, startups and researchers access to these technologies can open up a world of social and economic opportunities. India AI' is an exciting programme and with close collaboration between government and industry, we can strengthen India's digital leadership and help to ensure AI tools are built for India's unique needs," he said.