Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and the Chairman and the Managing Director of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani sat together for a fireside chat on Thursday. The fireside chat was hosted as a part of the Nvidia AI Summit India event and was focused on the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy in India. During the conversation, Huang announced that Reliance and Nvidia will join hands to build and develop the AI infrastructure in India. The discussion also highlighted India’s large population of computer engineers and how it can be a pivotal resource to take the lead in the global AI race.
Jensen Huang, Mukesh Ambani Participate in a Fireside Chat
After the completion of Huang’s keynote session where he took a deep dive into the company’s tech stack, highlighted the work done in India, and the future roadmap for AI, the Nvidia CEO invited Ambani for the fireside chat.
Linking Nvidia with “Vidya”, the Hindi word for knowledge, Ambani said that Reliance is committed to building the best large language model (LLM) in Hindi. Calling the Indian conglomerate’s first principles as “driving a knowledge revolution and converting it into the intelligence revolution”, Ambani highlighted that India has arrived at the doorsteps of the intelligence age.
Next, Huang posed the question of how companies like Nvidia and Reliance can help transform India from an IT centre to the AI centre of the world.
“This is a new aspirational India. We are one of the few countries in the world where the average age is below 35. The Prime Minister’s vision has been crucial in driving progress on the ground. Indians possess raw talent, and over the years, India has become home to a wide range of companies. Many energy giants conduct their innovations here, making us a fast-emerging innovation hub for the world,” said Ambani, answering the question.
He also added that Reliance is committed to developing innovation in connectivity infrastructure, including the deployment of 4G, 5G, and broadband networks. “While our company initially did not operate in this domain, we have now become the largest data company in the world,” he added. Huang agreed and said that India’s market size is a major advantage for companies operating in the country.
Discussing the next steps towards building an AI-focused nation, Huang announced that Nvidia and Reliance Industries are partnering to develop AI infrastructure in India. The details of this partnership and its scope were not shared during the fireside chat.
Narrating his past interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Huang said, “PM Modi told me when I met him the last time that India should not export data to import intelligence. India should not export flour to import bread.” The Nvidia CEO also revealed that he was asked by the PM to advise his cabinet about AI technology.
Ambani also took a moment to express his admiration for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Highlighting the company’s work in the field of AI, he stated that the open-source AI models released by the company have empowered Indian enterprises to build on top of a set foundation and quickly catch up with the rest of the world.
Adding to it, Huang highlighted that India’s population and the large industry of computer scientists is a massive advantage. Calling it an extraordinary time, the Nvidia CEO said India had all the right ingredients — the indigenous advantage, a massive wealth of data that can be converted into intelligence, and a nurturing computer-based industry — to bring about an intelligence revolution.
