Amid buzz around Artificial Intelligence and its profound impact on society, Google's global head of government affairs and public policy, Karan Bhatia on Thursday said conditions are ripe for India to be at the forefront of AI, and that the tech firm is deeply aligned to the country's vision of having indigenous foundational models.
He also expressed optimism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to Washington DC will further cement an already-strong bilateral relationship, and lead to greater collaboration between India and the US, on AI.
Bhatia asserted that the Mountain View, California-headquartered company is already deeply invested and engaged in India's vision of having indigenous foundational models, and is excited to be an important partner in the country's tech journey.
"… On what makes us optimistic about India, is not just a matter of localised talent… not just things like the language diversity that makes us so excited… it is also the evidence that we've got that India, the Indian people, are very excited about AI," Bhatia told PTI.
His comments assume significance coming as they do in the backdrop of an interesting turn of events in the world of AI, which has been buzzing ever since Hangzhou-based startup DeepSeek stunned the industry watchers with its low-cost AI model.
Also, India has already declared its intent to build its very own AI model with New Delhi exuding confidence that the indigenous foundational model will indeed be able to compete with the best, across the globe.
AI continued to dominate conversations, as earlier this week major world political leaders met for a high-stakes AI Summit in Paris, where India and France led the charge on responsible AI development.
Co-chairing the AI Action Summit along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Modi made a strong case for collective efforts to establish a global framework for AI-based on open source, which enhances trust, transparency and is free from biases.
The PM also met Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the sidelines of the Summit in Paris where they discussed the "incredible opportunities" AI will bring to India. The Indian-origin Alphabet Inc CEO also discussed how Google and India can work together on the country’s digital transformation.
"We think the conditions are right for India to be at the forefront of AI, and Google to be an important partner in that," Bhatia said.
Citing a recent global survey done in partnership with Ipsos, he said the findings had revealed that positive perceptions about AI and its economic impact in India were substantially higher than the global average.
Bhatia said the case is strong for India to have indigenous Large Language Models, given the diversity of languages, the desire to build tools that really meet local needs and demands.
"We believe that Google can be an important part of that, including not just the work on 'Project Vaani' that we've been doing with IISC, but also other work that we have done over many years in India around language… the extraordinary work we've done, for instance, on Google Translate, utilising machine learning to be able to expand the number of languages that are reflected in Google Translate and effectively in the internet, as a result," he said.
One of the principal risks to AI is fragmentation of regulation, according to Bhatia.
"We worry about AI being setback or delayed by regulations that prescribe different requirements in different jurisdictions, and frankly, we have seen this in other spaces of technology in recent years. So the move towards alignment is important," he pointed out.
It would be prudent to "measure twice" before new regulations are imposed, so balance is struck between risk and opportunity.
"At Google, we talk about the need to be both bold and responsible. That is how we approach technology, seize the incredible opportunity, be bold, but also be thoughtful about making sure our products are doing the right things, and that's 'be responsible' part of it," he said.
On Prime Minister Modi's two-day visit to the US for bilateral meetings with President Donald Trump, and the expectations on outcomes for the tech fraternity, Bhatia said the expectations are "quite positive".
"You see such strong ties between the US and India in technology, and much of the business community in the United States sees India as sort of a second home. I certainly know that we, at Google, do… so our hope would be that this visit will yield to further strengthen that already-strong relationship, and particularly maybe open the door for more collaboration on artificial intelligence," he said.
On the debate around H-1B visas and whether he sees the issue figure prominently during the talks between both the nations, Bhatia said: "I think we're all interested in watching this space".
"From Google's vantage point, we believe it is important that companies like Google, tech companies more broadly, continue to have access to the world's best talent. And at the very high end of that talent you need to be able to bring people into the US, to be able to be fully incorporated into our operations. So we do hope that there continue to be those opportunities," Bhatia said.
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