Infosys co‑founder and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani has announced a second multi‑year grant to AI4Bharat—an open‑source initiative at IIT Madras dedicated to building foundational AI models for Indian languages. This round brings his total contribution to an impressive ₹70 crore
2. Why a Second Grant?
- Deepening Impact: The initial funding established the Nilekani Centre at AI4Bharat in 2022. The new ₹70 crore pledge further empowers efforts in speech recognition, machine translation, text-to-speech, and language understanding for India’s major languages
- Self‑Reliant AI: AI4Bharat’s open-source models now support critical digital infrastructure—Bhashini, the Supreme Court’s SUVAS translation tool, and the agriculture chatbot Kisan e‑Mitra, bridging the language gap
3. What’s Being Built?
- Inclusive Speech & Text Tools: From voice assistants to real-time translations, AI4Bharat’s models cover India’s 22 constitutionally recognized languages timesofindia
- Digital Public Infrastructure Alignment: Their contributions power IndiaAI’s Bhashini platform—vital for governance, health, and finance delivery in regional languages
- Open Data Commons: Publicly accessible AI datasets and models reduce entry barriers for startups and researchers
5. What’s Next?
- Expanding Model Capabilities: Continued progress in fine-tuning multilingual speech and text models, including nuanced dialects.
- Public Integrations: Expect rollout in public service platforms, education portals, e‑governance, and agri‑advisory tools.
- Capacity Building: Strengthening AI research through talent initiatives like the Nilekani‑backed centre and associated training programmes.
