Akash Ambani wants Indian data to be stored locally

PTI New Delhi: Reliance Jio, the nation's largest telecom company, on Tuesday said Indian users' data must remain within the country as Chairman Akash Ambani pitched for "incentives" including that on electricity for Indian companies ready to set up AI and machine learning data centers. Speaking at IMC and ITUWTSA 2024, Ambani termed AI as a revolutionary tool for the transformation of every area including healthcare, education, agriculture and manufacturing, and emphasised it is "critical" in realising India's vision for a developed nation by 2047. "AI is critical for realising our dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047. Therefore, India under your leadership should urgently embrace AI with a holistic strategy driven by maximum 'atma nirbhar' efforts," he said at the event which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jio, he said, is making all-out efforts to bring the benefits of AI to every Indian, everywhere, just as it did for mobile broadband. "We are committed to democratising AI, offering powerful AI models and services to everyone in India at affordable prices," Ambani said. He described Artificial Intelligence as the most revolutionary tool of transformation invented by the human mind, and said it will disruptively transform every aspect of lives, every facet of the society, and every sector of the economy. It will "bring in an era of unimaginable abundance and efficiency", he said, citing the potential for transformation in sectors such as manufacturing, education and agriculture.

"With AI, India has the potential to completely transform the manufacturing sector, including SMEs, so that India becomes the New- Age Factory and New-Age Services Centre for the World... The Agriculture sector, so that our farmers can become prosperous by growing more with less water," he said on the power and potential of artificial intelligence. AI in the health sector will make quality healthcare a reality and in the education sector it will ensure that every Indian student can have the best learning opportunities. Jio is laying the groundwork for a national AI infrastructure, he added. Ambani further observed that the scale and speed of multilingual data generation in India, which will drive the AI revolution, will grow exponentially.