Nvidia in talks to co-develop AI chip with India: Report

PM Modi and CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, discussing 'rich potential' India offers in world of AI

American chip-maker Nvidia has proposed a collaboration with India to co-develop an artificial intelligence (AI) chip, The Economic Times has reported.

The chip-making giant is looking to tap into India’s strong semiconductor design talent and fast-growing market. The proposal was initiated by Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US earlier this year, the report said. Huang is expected to visit Indian this week.

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed the development. "Yes, we are discussing with Nvidia the development of an AI chip; discussions are at a preliminary stage," the report quoted the minister as saying.

Nvidia is looking to leverage India's vast chip-designing base for a chip tailored to Indian needs. “The government is currently thrashing out the details such as costing, benefits, and use cases of such a co-developed chip,” the report quoted a source as saying.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The proposed AI chip could have specific applications for projects such as the railways’ security system Kavach. It could also support various apps for Indian startups and government use under the AI mission, officials said.

The chip, if developed, would involve core design by Nvidia’s partners like Arm or AMD, while the customised top layers could be handled by India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) or private Indian firms. “India is the top choice due to the sheer size of the talent available in chip design, which no other country has,” an official said.

Experts, including Parv Sharma of Counterpoint Research, said the co-developed chip would be a significant win for India, allowing the country to customise silicon for AI, cloud, and data centre applications.

“It will add design-related intellectual property, cost-effective silicon, and drive innovation among AI startups,” the report quoted Sharma as saying.

A study by Boston Consulting Group has revealed that 19 percent of the world’s chip designers are based in India, though most work for foreign firms that manufacture chips abroad, the report said. Industry experts have urged the government to establish an end-to-end chip design and manufacturing ecosystem in India.