NVIDIA and Reliance announced Partnership to Build AI in 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming industries worldwide. Large language models like GPT-3 and PaLM have demonstrated new capabilities in text generation, classification and more. However, these models are primarily trained on English and Western data. This limits their fluency in Indian languages and effectiveness for India-centric applications. To address this gap, NVIDIA and Reliance announced Partnership to build a strategic collaboration to develop a large language model tailored for India.

The Growing Need for India-Specific AI

India has over 22 official languages written in 13 different scripts. Conversational Artificial Intelligence and natural language processing require models that understand this linguistic diversity. Current Artificial Intelligence also lacks grounding in Indian arts, culture, names, places, etc. An AI model built using Indian datasets can overcome these limitations.

According to NITI Aayog, Artificial Intelligence has the potential to add $1 trillion to India’s economy by 2035. Domains like healthcare, agriculture and education can benefit from Artificial Intelligence innovations tailored for Indian demographics. An Indian Artificial Intelligence Foundation Model can equip developers, startups and enterprises to build transformative applications.

NVIDIA and Reliance announced Partnership: Key details

In September 2023, NVIDIA and Reliance announced Partnership for model development. The partners aim to create a model trained on a large corpus of Indian languages, dialects, arts and knowledge systems.

NVIDIA’s Artificial Intelligence and Infrastructure Strengths

NVIDIA leads in Artificial Intelligence computing with its GPUs, software and cloud platform. Its experience with large language models like Megatron can be leveraged for developing and optimizing the Indian model. NVIDIA GPU Cloud (NGC) will potentially host the model for easy access.

Reliance’s Data and Connectivity Assets

With over 420 million subscribers, Reliance Jio can provide connectivity for distributed training of the model. Its telco business generates vast amounts of India-centric data. Reliance’s data center infrastructure can aid training and deployment.

Envisaged Training Approaches for the Model

Training a model that captures India’s diversity requires sufficiently large and varied datasets.

Multilingual Training Data

The model will likely be trained on textual data in major Indian languages first. Priority may be given to languages with most speakers like Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, etc. Additional languages can be added incrementally.

Incorporating Unstructured Data

Beyond text corpora, unstructured data like images, videos and audio can enhance the model’s understanding of cultural concepts. Sources like music, movies, arts can provide such rich training signals.

Pan-India Distributed Training

To scale model training, Reliance’s connectivity assets and NVIDIA’s networking will enable distributed training across regions. This can improve generalization by reducing geographic bias.

Making the Model Accessible for Wider Innovation

Democratizing access to the model is a key focus area. Developers, startups, students and researchers are target user groups.

Cloud APIs and Services

The model can be made available via cloud services and APIs for easy integration into apps. Pay-as-you-go access on NVIDIA NGC and Jio cloud platforms is a potential offering.

Optimization for Edge Devices

For inference at the edge, the model can be optimized to run on devices like cars, phones, cameras etc. NVIDIA Jetson kits allow fast edge deployment.

Research Partner Engagement

Partnerships with academic institutes like IITs and Artificial Intelligence research labs can facilitate advanced research projects using the model.

Conclusion

NVIDIA and Reliance announced partnership brings together global Artificial Intelligence leadership with local business strength. It has the potential to enable Indian language understanding alongside commercial adoption. Wider availability of the model can accelerate startup innovation and digital transformation across sectors. Initiatives like these are key steps in India’s journey towards becoming an Artificial Intelligence superpower.

FAQs

Q: What is the main goal of the NVIDIA and Reliance announced partnership?

A: To develop an Artificial Intelligence model trained on Indian data that understands regional languages, dialects, contexts and concepts.

Q: Why is an Indian model needed versus existing global models?

A: Global models lack fluency in Indian languages. An Indian model can enable more relevant apps in education, healthcare, etc.

Q: How will training such a large model be enabled?

A: Reliance’s connectivity and data assets combined with NVIDIA’s Artificial Intelligence infrastructure will allow distributed, large-scale model training.

Q: Who are the expected key users of this model?

A: Developers, startups, students and researchers focusing on Indian-centric AI applications.

Q: When will the model be available for public access?

A: The announcement does not mention an exact timeline. But it is envisioned to be accessible via cloud APIs and services.

Don’t forget to Checkout our latest posts 👇