‘India AI’ and Meta, India sign MoU to foster advancements in AI, Emerging Technologies

New Delhi [India], July 26 : To foster collaboration in the field of Artificial intelligence (AI) and Emerging Technologies, ‘India AI’, an IBD under Digital India Corporation and Meta, India signed an MoU on Wednesday, an official release said.
The MoU was signed by Abhishek Singh, CEO of India AI, and Shivnath Thukral, Director & Head of Public Policy, Meta in India.
The objective of the MoU is to establish a framework for collaboration and cooperation between ‘India AI’ and Meta in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies including to make Meta’s open-source AI models available for use by the Indian AI ecosystem.
Abhishek Singh, CEO of ‘India AI’ stated, “India is at the forefront of adopting digital technologies and it is evident that AI and Emerging Technologies will play a pivotal role in expanding the advantages of technology to a broader population. Through this partnership with Meta, the joint research and development endeavours will tackle large-scale challenges by leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies like Llama and other open-source solutions.”
Nick Clegg, President, of Global Affairs, Meta opined, “Meta’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.”
‘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.
Additionally, 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 datasets in Indian Languages to enable translation and large language models, with priority given to low-resource languages, added the release.
This effort will foster social inclusion, improve government service delivery, and spur innovation using large language models, Generative AI, cognitive systems, and translation models.
Furthermore, ‘India AI’ and Meta will strive to enhance accessibility to AI computing resources for researchers, startups, and organizations with limited resources. Knowledge sharing and collaboration in AI and Emerging Technologies will be facilitated through workshops, seminars, conferences, and similar platforms.
The release noted that both organisations are dedicated to developing programs 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.
Additionally, ‘India AI’ and Meta share a common goal of raising awareness about AI's 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.