Reliance Jio Infocomm Chairman Akash Ambani announced on Wednesday that the company is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay to introduce an indigenous Artificial Intelligence (AI) model named ‘Bharat GPT.’ This announcement was made during his speech at Techfest, the annual science and technology festival of IIT Bombay.
According to Ambani, Reliance Jio is collaborating with Professor Ganesh Ramakrishnan from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay to develop generative pretrained transformers/large language model-based solutions for key business verticals such as telecom and retail.
Ambani emphasized the potential of AI, stating, “At present, we have just scratched the surface with large language models and generative AI, and the next decade will be defined by these applications.” He added that AI is expected to revolutionize every aspect of products and services, and Reliance Jio is working towards integrating AI not only as a vertical within the organization but also horizontally across all sectors.
The Bharat GPT consortium, a unique Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative led by IIT Bombay, aims to deliver India-centric multi-lingual and multi-modal GPT/LLMs. This consortium includes other prestigious academic institutes such as IIT Madras, IIT Mandi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIM Indore, and Bhashini (a division of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology). Industry partners of the consortium include Seetha Mahalaxmi Healthcare Private Limited led by Dr. Vishnu Vardhan, Reliance Jio, and NASSCOM. The consortium is currently working closely with the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
The collaboration between Reliance Jio and IIT Bombay, along with the involvement of other academic and industry partners, underscores the growing focus on developing indigenous AI capabilities in India, with the Bharat GPT initiative poised to play a significant role in advancing AI research and applications in the country.
