Speaking at a summit co-hosted with France, the Indian prime minister urged global leaders to develop open-source models to increase “trust and transparency”
Data sets that are free from biases are crucial in developing trustworthy and transparent artificial intelligence systems, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said at the AI Action Summit in Paris, which he co-chaired with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Speaking at the event, which was attended by US Vice President J.D. Vance, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, and other stakeholders, Modi stressed the importance of open source systems and local ecosystem in developing AI tools in order to enhance “trust and transparency.”
“We must build quality data sets, free from biases. We must democratize technology and create people-centric applications. We must address concerns related to cybersecurity, disinformation, and deep fakes. And, we must also ensure that technology is rooted in local ecosystems for it to be effective and useful,” Modi said. “It shows that while the positive potential of AI is absolutely amazing, there are many biases that we need to think carefully about.”
The Indian leader also expressed optimism about the potential impact of AI on employment, suggesting that it could have a “positive effect” on job creation and the workforce.
Globally, AI has taken center stage, following the massive success of startup DeepSeek, which has triggered a tech ‘arms race’. In January, Chinese company DeepSeek released an open-source version of its foundation model, R1, which the company claims was developed at significantly lower cost and which requires less computational power compared to competitors such as OpenAI’s interactive tool, ChatGPT.
Industry experts believe that the rise of DeepSeek reinforces the idea that AI should be accessible to all, differing from the approach of Western competitors who often prioritize proprietary models and restricted access.
Modi highlighted the importance of making AI capabilities accessible to everyone, especially in the Global South, where countries often face challenges due to limited resources, including computing power, talent, data, and financial capacity.
India has also announced its intent to develop its own open-source large language AI tool, which Modi said will be developed through a public-private partnership model.
This aims to “pool resources” and make them “accessible to startups,” he said. Earlier, the minister of electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced that an indigenous AI model is expected to be ready within the next ten months, with its foundational framework already in place.
Additionally, the government has decided to invest over $1 billion to acquire a minimum of 10,000 Graphics Processing Units – a crucial component in developing various AI models, including foundation models, large language models, and small language models.
On the sidelines of the AI Summit, Modi met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, according to an NDTV report. Google chief highlighted the “incredible opportunities” that AI will bring to India.
