Google's Sundar Pichai Shares Highlights Of PM Modi's Roundtable With CEOs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to ensure that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology benefits the people of India and is challenging tech giants to do more in this direction, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said.

"The Prime Minister has been focused on transforming India with his Digital India vision. He pushed us to continue making in India, designing in India. We are proud to now make our Pixel phones manufactured in India. He is thinking about how AI can transform India in a way that benefits the people. He challenged us to think about applications in healthcare, education, and agriculture," the Indian-born industry leader said following his meeting with Prime Minister Modi during his US trip.

"He is also thinking about the infrastructure of India, be it data centres, power, energy, and investing to make sure India can transition. We are proud to be partnering with India. We are robustly investing in AI in India. We look forward to doing more. We have several programmes and partnerships with MeitY, agriculture and health ministries, and central and state governments," he said.

Mr Pichai said the Prime Minister has always challenged them to do more for India. "He is asking to do the same with AI. He has a clear vision, both in terms of the opportunity AI will create, but he wants to make sure that ultimately AI is there to benefit the people of India."

Mr Pichai was among CEOs of tech giants who met Prime Minister Modi for a roundtable in New York today. Hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Engineering, the roundtable was attended by Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Adobe's Shantanu Narayen, Accenture's Julie Sweet, AMD's Lisa Su, Biogen's Chris Viehbacher, HP's Enrique Lores, and IBM's Arvind Krishna, among others.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called Prime Minister Modi an "incredible student". "Every time I meet him, he wants to learn more about the technology. Artificial intelligence is a new industry and I am looking forward to partnering with India. We are partnering with many companies, start-ups and IITs in India," he said.

The Prime Minister said in a post on X that he had a fruitful roundtable with the tech CEOs and they discussed aspects relating to technology and innovation and more. "Also highlighted the strides made by India in this field. I am glad to see immense optimism towards India," he said.  

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the roundtable focused on artificial intelligence and quantum; biotechnology and life sciences; computing, IT and communication; and semiconductor technologies.

"Prime Minister highlighted the economic transformation happening in India, particularly in electronics and information technology manufacturing, semiconductors, biotech and green development. He stated that his government was committed to making India a global hub of semiconductor manufacturing. He also dwelt on India's BIO E3 policy to develop India into a biotech powerhouse. On AI, he noted that India's policy is to promote AI for All, underpinned by its ethical and responsible use," the MEA said in a statement.

"The CEOs expressed their strong interest in investing and collaborating with India. India's growing prominence as a global technology hub, driven by its innovation-friendly policies and flourishing market opportunities, got much appreciation from the tech-leaders," it added.