In New Delhi, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new initiative to boost AI connectivity between India, the US, and other locations, alongside partnerships for cloud infrastructure platform support to over 20 million public servants across 800 districts. This initiative includes a new subsea cable project and a USD 15-billion AI hub in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh.
Pichai emphasized India's extraordinary potential in AI, stating that "AI is the biggest platform shift of our lifetime...for countries like India, AI presents a chance to leapfrog age-old gaps and create new opportunities." He highlighted applications spanning healthcare, education, climate resilience, and more, and noted India's high adoption of AI-enabled voice and visual search.
He also announced the India-America Connect Initiative – a new series of subsea cable routes to enhance AI connectivity between the US, India, and multiple locations across the Southern Hemisphere. Alongside this, Google unveiled major skilling programs in India, including the Google AI Professional Certificate for students and early-career professionals, and "landmark" partnerships with Karma Yogi Bharat.
Google Cloud will provide a secure infrastructure for a platform supporting more than 20 million public servants across 800 districts and in 18 Indian languages. Pichai expressed his excitement about the future, saying, "I have never been more excited about the future we are building together."
Pichai met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussing Google's efforts to infuse AI at all levels in India to improve health, expand access to information in all languages, support startups, and agriculture.
At the media event, Pichai highlighted India's potential as a global AI leader, noting the technology's transformative applications – from improving healthcare and education to supporting resilient communities. He outlined the company's momentum to invest in skilling and people.
To support adoption, Google announced the Google AI Professional Certificate Program in India, targeting students and early-career professionals. Skilling initiatives will also include a landmark collaboration with Karma Yogi Bharat to empower 20 million public servants across 800 districts in 18 languages, and support for Atal Tinkering Labs to bring generative AI assistance to over 10,000 schools and 11 million students.
Google launched a USD 30-million AI for Science Impact Challenge to support global researchers using AI to accelerate the next generation of scientific breakthroughs.
He emphasized that AI has the biggest impact on people's lives when it is developed and deployed with the institutions that know these communities best, highlighting how Google works with multiple Indian government bodies and local institutions such as IIT metrics.
"Today, we are excited to announce a partnership between Google DeepMind and the Indian government as part of the global National Partnerships Program. This will broaden access to frontier AI capabilities," he said.
