India’s ‘DeepSeek Moment’ is Here

Finally, India is not just ruminating and watching anymore—it is now taking action at ‘deep speed’. The government has officially called for proposals to develop homegrown AI models, marking a decisive push toward sovereign AI that can compete globally.?

Through the IndiaAI Mission, startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs are invited to build large multimodal models (LMMs), large language models (LLMs), and small language models (SLMs), ensuring AI that is deeply rooted in India’s languages and culture.

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reinforced the urgency of this effort, stating, “Very soon, we will have our own LLMs,” while confirming that the IndiaAI Compute Facility has secured 18,000+ GPUs to support development. This comes on the heels of DeepSeek, the powerful Chinese AI model built for less than $6 million.

DeepSeek’s stunning debut has caused a stir in India’s AI ecosystem. “The models are a step change and will enable faster progress towards even more powerful and intelligent systems,” said Sarvam AI founder Pratyush Kumar, adding that India must “absolutely build its own sovereign models from scratch.” He emphasised that these models must balance deep reasoning with high proficiency in Indian languages to be truly effective.

The government’s expectations are clear. These models must be trained on diverse Indian datasets, comply with Indian regulations, and serve both public and strategic interests. Proposals will be evaluated monthly, with funding provided through direct grants, equity-based investments, and co-financing from industry stakeholders.

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[Watch Live] Union Budget 2025?

This year’s Union Budget is just hours away, and many experts believe it will be an AI Budget of sorts. For the first time ever, AIM brings you live Budget coverage and updates on how India is shaping its future in AI, semiconductors, and deep tech— all in real time. [Link here]?

Date: February 1, 2025

Time: 10.30 AM IST onwards

Meet the ‘Robinhood of AI’

While OpenAI investigates whether DeepSeek ‘stole’ its model outputs, the irony isn’t lost on the industry. OpenAI itself has scraped the internet without permission to train ChatGPT, a fact that has landed it in multiple copyright lawsuits, including one from The New York Times and another in India by Asian News International.?

Meanwhile, DeepSeek’s open-source approach has earned it the title of the ‘Robinhood of AI’. Pratik Desai, founder of KissanAI, explains, “DeepSeek has returned stolen public data to the public through open-source models.”?

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AI in ????? Movies?

While we wait for the Union Budget 2025, here’s the latest episode of Tech Talks, where we dive into AI and filmmaking.

MG Srinivas, a filmmaker known for pushing the boundaries of technology in cinema, shares with AIM how he used AI-driven voice cloning in Ghost, alongside experimenting with deepfake for de-ageing actors. Srinivas has been at the forefront of innovation in Indian cinema.?

With major films now utilising AI for scriptwriting, dubbing, and visual effects, he sees the industry on the verge of a tech-driven transformation. But AI in cinema isn’t without challenges—budget constraints, ethical concerns, and fan expectations remain key hurdles.?

As for the future? Srinivas is already thinking ahead: “People will love seeing legendary actors back on screen, but it has to be done right.”?

Check out the full story here.