A day after Microsoft on Wednesday announced a comprehensive series of artificial intelligence partnerships across key sectors in India Promise to invest 3 billion dollars in the country in the next two years As it intensifies competition with rivals Google and Amazon.
The tech giant's chief executive Satya Nadella (pictured above) unveiled deals with five major companies spanning railways, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and education.
This includes an agreement with the Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT, as part of which Microsoft will contribute to the ministry's IndiaAI Mission dataset platform by supporting data collection and synthetic generation.
The company will train 500,000 people in AI technology by 2026 and will establish two AI centers of excellence called AI Catalyst to promote rural AI innovation and set up AI labs in 20 national skill training institutes.
RailTel, a government-backed company, has entered into a five-year partnership with Microsoft to advance “digital, cloud and AI transformation” in Indian Railways. Apollo Hospitals plans to develop AI “copilots” for healthcare services. Bajaj Finance, India's largest non-banking financial company, expects annual cost savings of $18 million by 2026 by implementing AI. Edtech startup Upgrade will work with Microsoft to develop applications for using AI in the workplace.
The push comes as Google and Amazon race to expand their AI offerings and Indian businesses and Nvidia Strike deal Supplying AI chips to India's largest companies.
In October, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a partnership with Indian firm Reliance Industries to build AI infrastructure. The chip designer has signed deals with Tata Communications and Yotta Data Services to deploy thousands of its H100 chips.
Google, which has been operating in India for over two decades, recently Launched new AI-powered tools For Indian merchants that allow them to build a digital presence.