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The government is taking steps to build a harmonised data infrastructure to ensure that information can be systematically discovered, understood, connected and utilised, MoSPI Secretary Saurabh Garg said on Monday. Garg was a addressing a session at AIMA's 53rd National Management Convention here. A harmonised data infrastructure is extremely necessary to ensure that data can be systematically discovered, understood, connected and utilised, said Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, noting that at times two words have different definitions. He said the central as well as state governments are involved in a five-step process to build such infrastructure, especially given the fact that data is the raw material for AI. "Five-step process that we have started both across ministries and departments and states...the first step is to have government data which is harmonised and then we can look at other data in the private sector and others can join in," Garg ..
Microsoft on Monday formally launched its fourth India cloud region, in Hyderabad, as part of its USD 20.5 billion investment commitment to the country's digital and AI infrastructure. The India South Central region, which became generally available on August 6, joins the company's existing regions in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai. The Hyderabad facility uses effectively zero water for cooling, relying on air-cooled chillers instead of traditional water-based systems, Microsoft India and South Asia President Puneet Chandok said. He noted that the country has about 2 GW of data centre capacity, which is set to rise to 6-7 GW by 2035, with over USD 100 billion in investments already committed. India would emerge as an AI infrastructure hub not just for itself but for Asia and the Global South, Chandok said. In a video message, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said the new region would give organisations in India, and more broadly Asia, more capacity, greater resilience and m
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday the US has proposed a new "notification mechanism" for artificial intelligence incidents that could affect national security, part of weekend discussions ahead of talks at the White House this week between President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping. "We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats," Bessent told reporters after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York. "We think that just like any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the No. 1 and the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very important." Trump has resisted calls to slow down AI development, saying that would help China catch up to US companies. Standing together in the soaring lobby of the JPMorgan Chase headquarters late Sunday, Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the groundwork had been laid for talks between Xi and Trump set to take place on Thursday. They said the two sides had agreed t
Salesforce sees India entering a phase of wider enterprise AI adoption, with companies moving beyond experimentation to production deployments and the country offering significant "white space" for digital and agentic AI growth, President and CEO, South Asia, Arundhati Bhattacharya, said. In an interview to PTI, she affirmed the shift by Indian firms, sharing that Salesforce will continue to invest in physical infrastructure, upskilling Indian talent and recruitment. "So I would say that yes, they (Indian companies) are moving towards putting things in production," Bhattacharya said, responding to a question on whether Indian firms were moving towards large-scale deployment after experimenting with generative AI and AI agents. Elaborating on Salesforce's India plans, Bhattacharya said a new tower in Bengaluru is expected to come on stream next calendar year as one of its investments in the country. "We have already invested in a tower in Bangalore, and that should be coming on stre
International norms for military AI must be established at the research and defence-planning stages, before AI-enabled systems reach the battlefield, an Indian expert said at an annual international security dialogue platform in China. There is an urgent need to establish international norms governing military AI before AI-enabled systems are deployed in actual conflicts, said Sujan R Chinoy, Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), speaking on "AI & Future Warfare" at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, China's premier annual international security dialogue platform. Chinoy said that according to experts and strategic policymakers, AI is fundamentally changing the character of modern warfare, compressing the time available for decision-making and creating new vulnerabilities that require urgent global norms. Inaugurating the Forum, held here on September 15-16, the Chinese Minister of National Defence Dong Jun called for joint ...