Nvidia makes a strong AI push in India

At the Nvidia AI Summit in Mumbai on October 24, the chipmaker’s CEO and founder, Jensen Huang, underscored a shift in the way software is developed, crediting machine learning as the game-changer. “The old approach of developing software has now been disrupted. It's not coding anymore, it's machine learning,” he explained. He described this transition from ‘Software 1.0’, where human coding was key, to ‘Software 2.0’, which relies on the power of machine learning.

During the summit, Huang revealed that Nvidia and Reliance Industries are partnering to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in India. During the conversation Reliance Industries’ chairman, Mukesh Ambani, highlighted India's potential to become a global hub for AI and one of the biggest AI markets.

Ambani stated, “We can use intelligence to actually bring prosperity to all the people and bring equality to the world.” Huang echoed this sentiment, adding, "Let’s make it a promise today that we will work together so that India could take advantage of the intelligence revolution that's ahead of us."

Huang, clearly bullish on India’s prospects, also praised the country’s position as a major hub for innovation. Ambani emphasised India’s rapidly developing digital infrastructure, stating, "India is fast becoming an innovation hub for the world. Apart from the US and China, India has the best digital connectivity infrastructure."

Huang Jensen, founder and CEO of Nvidia in conversation with Reliance Industries’ chairman, Mukesh Ambani.

This sentiment was reinforced by Huang, who noted, "This is an excellent opportunity for India. The country’s large population of computer engineers, paired with a growing digital landscape, makes this such an extraordinary time.” He expressed his excitement at collaborating with Ambani and Reliance, describing their partnership as both an honour and a privilege.

Nvidia’s expanding AI collaboration with local partners

As part of its commitment to India, it launched a lightweight AI model specifically for the Hindi language. This new model is part of a broader effort to tap into the country’s growing demand for AI solutions tailored to regional needs. "Hindi dialect changes every 50 kilometres," Huang noted.

He also pointed out that India is one of the most linguistically complex markets in the world. "Once you have cracked LLMs in India, you can build in any part of the world,” he added. Tech Mahindra is one of the first companies to utilise Nvidia’s Hindi AI model, with its custom-built AI, Indus 2.0, focusing on Hindi and its many dialects.

Nvidia’s latest AI model, Nemotron-4-Mini-Hindi-4B, features 4 billion parameters and has been developed using a combination of real-world and synthetic Hindi data, alongside English data. The model, according to the company, is designed to be lightweight yet powerful, allowing companies to build their own AI tools in Hindi with greater efficiency.

AI partnerships and India’s growing role

In addition to its work with Reliance, Nvidia is also collaborating with other Indian companies. Cloud infrastructure providers and server manufacturers are rapidly increasing data center capacity with Nvidia GPUs, aiming for nearly a 10x boost in deployment by year-end.

At the Nvidia AI Summit in Mumbai, players like Yotta Data Services, Tata Communications, E2E Networks, and Netweb said they would be part of this expansion journey. Sunil Gupta, CEO of Yotta, highlighted that their Shakti Cloud platform simplifies AI adoption, allowing organisations to scale and innovate faster.

Tata Communications is deploying Nvidia Hopper GPUs for its public cloud, with plans to integrate Blackwell GPUs next year. CEO A S Lakshminarayanan noted that their partnership with the chipmaker will make AI resources more accessible across industries like healthcare, retail, and finance.

E2E Networks provides GPU-powered cloud servers, supporting high-compute tasks such as real-time AI inference, while Netweb is expanding its Tyrone AI systems using Nvidia MGX architecture. Netweb’s chairman, Sanjay Lodha, emphasised that their new systems will enable businesses and researchers to build advanced AI applications.

Chennai-based Zoho Corporation will be leveraging Nvidia’s AI computing platform, including Nvidia NeMo, a key part of Nvidia’s AI Enterprise software, to develop large language models (LLMs) tailored for business use. Its director of AI, Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, remarked, “Many LLMs on the market today are designed for consumer use, offering limited value for businesses. Zoho’s mission is to develop LLMs tailored specifically for a wide range of business use cases.”

Zoho, which has already invested over $10 million in Nvidia’s AI technology and GPUs, plans to invest an additional $10 million in the coming year. Once the LLMs are developed, they will be available to Zoho’s 700,000-plus global customers across its business suite, including ManageEngine and Zoho.com.

Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, director of AI, Zoho Corporation.

Nvidia is also partnering with Flipkart, one of India’s largest e-commerce platforms, to improve customer service using conversational AI. Additionally, the company is working with India’s healthcare firms to enhance productivity in both patient care and research through AI-driven solutions.

Global impact: Nvidia’s AI in marketing and creativity

Nvidia’s global influence is also extending into advertising and creative services, where the company is collaborating with leading advertising firms to integrate AI into content creation. A key example is Nvidia’s partnership with WPP, a global advertising agency. This partnership aims to revolutionise advertising production through the use of Nvidia’s Omniverse platform and Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) technology.

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2024, WPP launched Production Studio, powered by Nvidia Omniverse. This AI-driven tool simplifies and accelerates the creation of text, images, and video, transforming content creation for advertisers and marketers. Nvidia’s AI technologies are already shaping the way agencies and brands engage with consumers, creating more efficient, personalised, and innovative campaigns.

Nvidia’s Blackwell chip’s role in AI performance

Nvidia’s AI expansion is supported by its hardware, including the highly anticipated Blackwell chips. CEO Huang confirmed that these chips, a key part of its next-generation GPU architecture, will begin shipping to customers in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The production of these chips, which is being handled by TSMC, had been delayed due to a design flaw. However, Huang confirmed that the issue has now been resolved. Morgan Stanley estimates that Nvidia will ship approximately 450,000 Blackwell chips in the December quarter, generating around $10 billion in revenue.

Unveiled in March, Nvidia’s Blackwell chips are expected to deliver unprecedented advancements in AI performance and data processing. The chips are designed to address the rapidly growing demand for high-performance computing, particularly in AI, data centres, and gaming. These chips are 30 times faster than previous models, significantly boosting their efficiency in handling complex tasks like AI-driven chatbots.

According to Statista, the global GPU market is currently valued at $65.3 billion and is forecasted to reach $274.2 billion by 2029, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.2%. Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture is expected to play a pivotal role in this market growth, securing the company’s leadership in the GPU space for the foreseeable future.

The future of AI and human jobs

As Nvidia continues to push the boundaries of AI, the company’s leadership remains optimistic about the future of human-AI collaboration. Addressing concerns about job displacement due to AI, Huang stated, “I know absolutely not, but the person who uses AI to automate 20%-50% is going to take your job.” He added that, in the long term, he hopes AI will act as personal assistants, enhancing human productivity by remembering and managing tasks.

In June 2024, Nvidia became the world's most valuable company, dethroning tech heavyweight Microsoft, as its high-end processors play a central role in a scramble to dominate AI technology. Standing at the helm of AI innovation, the company’s influence in India and across the globe is set to deepen. Its growing investment across sectors has the potential to reshape industries from marketing and advertising to healthcare and customer service. Its strategic partnerships and technologies could help it hold steadfast to staying at the forefront of the AI revolution.