India to host DeepSeek on its servers to address privacy concerns: Vaishnaw

Vaishnaw also emphasised the importance of distillation in AI models, ensuring that India's AI development remains open and application-driven

Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday announced that DeepSeek, the popular Chinese open-source AI model, will soon be hosted on Indian servers. The decision, he said, aims to address data privacy concerns and enhance India's AI capabilities, Moneycontrol reported.  

 

During a press briefing at the IndiaAI Mission event, Vaishnaw emphasised that hosting open-source models within the country would help ensure better data security and compliance with Indian regulations.

 

Vaishnaw's remarks come as several Western nations, including the US, have raised national security concerns over DeepSeek and its Chinese origin.

 

The Union minister also highlighted the role of the India AI Compute Facility, which has secured 18,000 GPUs to support the development of a Large Language Model (LLM) tailored to India’s needs. The initiative, he said, will focus on keeping AI models open and application-driven while ensuring efficient resource utilisation.

 

Vaishnaw also spoke about the affordability of the AI compute facility, stating that it would be one of the most cost-effective globally. He noted that the cost would be significantly less than one dollar per unit, with the government bearing the expenses. The government plans to provide subsidies for four years to make AI infrastructure accessible and sustainable. He further stressed that the real value of AI models would depend on algorithmic efficiency and the quality of datasets used for training.

 

On the infrastructure front, Vaishnaw named several companies that will supply GPUs, including Jio Platforms, CtrlS Datacenters Ltd, Locuz Enterprise Solutions, E2E Networks Limited, and NxtGen DataCenter. 

 

He also mentioned ongoing discussions with technology partners to bring expertise in data center management and GPU procurement to ensure structured and accessible AI computing resources.

 

The minister further revealed that major chip designers are interested in collaborating with India to develop indigenous GPUs. He stated that the country’s design ecosystem for chip creation and intellectual property is evolving rapidly. The government, through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is actively working on partnerships to co-develop GPUs. More details on these developments are expected in the coming weeks.