Global giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft make multi-billion dollar AI bet on India

Amazon is the latest to join the mega AI investment spree with a pledge of $35 billion by 2030, deepening its ties with one of its largest global markets

India is fast becoming a top destination for major artificial intelligence-related investments. World’s most influential companies including Big Tech firms such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other are lining up at India’s door to make huge bets on the country’s young population and its potential for digital innovation.

A young and growing population along with availability of cheap data has made the country a fertile ground for AI-driven growth.

The world’s most populous country remains a high-growth market for large US internet firms such as Amazon and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, even as they have faced regulatory hurdles and stiff local competition.

Amazon on December 10 said it will invest a $35 billion in the country by 2030, deepening its ties with one of its largest global markets. The e-commerce giant plans to invest in key areas such as artificial intelligence and logistics infrastructure, expanding its cloud computing and quick commerce businesses. The investments are likely to create an additional 3.8 million direct and indirect jobs in the country by 2030, said Amit Agarwal, SVP, Emerging Markets at Amazon.

Amazon’s Big Tech rival Microsoft’s chief executive officer Satya Nadella on December 9 met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and pledged to invest $17.5 billion by 2029, making it the firm’s biggest commitment in Asia.

It said that investment will back Microsoft’s cloud and AI expansion and ongoing operations across the country, including its workforce of over 22,000 employees across Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Gurugram, Noida and other cities. The firm is also trying to promote its AI assistant Copilot with free access for students.

Earlier in October, Google had announced a commitment of $15 billion to establish a large-scale AI hub in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, which will be its biggest investment outside the US so far.

The facility will integrate its AI infrastructure and data centres with renewable energy capacity and will be the first gigawatt-scale data centre campus in India, Google had said. The investment could create up to 1 lakh jobs by 2030.

Local manufacturing of semiconductors, considered the key driver of AI, also received a massive boost recently after Tata Electronics secured Intel as a prospective buyer of its chip facilities. The agreement signals Intel’s confidence in India’s chip manufacturing potential.

Moreover, IT giant Cognizant’s CEO Ravi Kumar also met PM Modi and expressed commitment to India’s AI First initiative. The company further announced plans to accelerate AI adoption and skill building.

Multiple reports also say that OpenAI is in talks with Tata Consultancy Services to launch its India chapter of Stargate, which is ChatGPT-maker’s ambitious AI project. OpenAI is also offering a one-year free subscription to Indian users to ChatGPT Pro.

The Central government has also stepped up its efforts to promote AI in the country. Last year, the Centre approved IndiaAI Mission with a budget of over Rs 10,000 crore. In November, the IT ministry released its new AI governance guidelines to encourage innovation in the field, rather than “heavy-handed regulation”. In addition, the Centre had announced the setting up of a Centre of Excellence in AI for education to develop the country’s research capabilities and prepare an AI-ready workforce. In 2021, the

Several state governments, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have also laid out their own AI roadmap to attract investments in the field.

With global companies coming down to India to reap the benefits of AI-driven growth, local corporate powerhouses also can’t be far behind.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, among several others, have ramped up their AI-related plans, with the two telecom giants providing free subscriptions of Gemini Pro and Perplexity Pro along their respective data plans, taking AI to the fingertips of millions of Indians.