IBM, MeitY join hands to boost AI, quantum and semiconductors in India

The platform is designed to deploy AI models for language, code, and geospatial science and will also adapt to training and building AI models in other domains as needed

Global tech giant IBM has signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with entities engaged with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to boost research & development (R&D) and skilling in artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and quantum technology in India.

As part of the three MoUs, the company intends to build a national AI Innovation Platform (AIIP) under the IndiaAI programme. It will also establish a research centre for the semiconductor R&D ecosystem, and develop local quantum services and infrastructure in India. The announcement is likely to help the government expand local capabilities in critical technologies.  

IBM and the government’s Digital India Corporation may together establish an AI innovation platform to focus on AI skilling, ecosystem development, and integrating advanced foundation models and generative AI capabilities.

 

With access to IBM’s Watsonx platform, the forum will serve as an accelerator for incubation and competency development in AI technologies and their applications for use cases of national importance.

The platform may have an ability to deploy AI models for language, code and geospatial science. The MoU also intends to train and build AI models for other domains as needed.

Headquartered in Armonk, New York, IBM has been a global leader in computing research for several decades. The company has held a record for minting the highest number of patents in the US for 29 years in a row. To put it in scale, IBM had filed over 10,000 patents in a single year during its peak.

“This collaboration reinforces our commitment to be the trusted partner for India in enhancing its innovation capabilities. Supporting the government’s efforts in building infrastructure, enhancing human capital and knowledge creation in these three areas of technology will be integral to India’s digital transformation and economic growth,” said Sandip Patel, managing director (MD), IBM India & South Asia.

The company will help the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to support India’s National Quantum Mission. It will help build competency in quantum computing technology, applications in areas of national interest, and a skilled quantum workforce. Activities would broadly focus on workforce enablement, development of industries and startups, and developing R&D as well as quantum services and infrastructure.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, said, “Semiconductors, AI, and quantum, these three technologies will transform the future in the coming years. They represent tremendous opportunities for our academic institutions, startups, and innovation ecosystem.”

IBM would also become a knowledge partner of the government’s India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) to create a semiconductor research centre. The company may share its experience with ISM on intellectual property, tools, initiatives, and skills development.

The partnership aims to promote innovation in logic, advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration, and advanced chip design technologies, using modern infrastructure.

“We are in early talks with IBM to add to our indigenous microprocessor strategy of our DIR-V and RISC-V processors. We are exploring to introduce microprocessors of IBM to our family (of indigenous processors), especially in high performance compute,” Chandrasekhar said.