Satya Nadella’s first visit this year to India took place in January.
Satya Nadella's first visit this year to India was in January
Photo Credit: Bloomberg
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is set to visit India for the second time this year, according to a report. The Indian-origin executive is expected to visit New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. He is said to attend two conferences on artificial intelligence (AI) and meet Indian government officials during his visit. This comes as more US-based tech giants are showing interest in India. Earlier this year, Nadella announced that Microsoft plans to invest in the country. Other tech firms like Google and OpenAI have also pledged investments to build AI in India.
Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reports that Microsoft CEO Nadella will visit India in December. Nadella is said to hold meetings with the Indian government officials in New Delhi. Additionally, he will reportedly address two conferences on AI in Mumbai and Bengaluru during his second visit to India this year.
The report added that this comes as the Indian and the US administrations attempt to resolve differences on various trade issues. The Indian government has been promoting the use of homegrown apps, like Zoho and Arattai, which position themselves as more affordable alternatives to Gmail and WhatsApp.
This will be the Microsoft's CEO's second visit to the country this year. In January, during an event in Bengaluru, Nadella announced that the US-based tech giant plans to invest $3 billion (roughly Rs. 26,542 crore) to expand the company's cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in India, which could potentially help it increase its revenue. Microsoft plans to invest the amount over two years.
Various US-based tech giants have been showing interest in capitalising on India's gigantic demographic dividend. Earlier this month, Google pledged an even larger investment of $15 billion (about Rs. 1.33 lakh crore) in India to set up a data centre for AI processing.
Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, revealed that the data centre will be built in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam. The California-based tech company plans to invest the money over a period of five years.
Moreover, other US-based AI firms, like OpenAI and Anthropic, have also shown interest in India. Recently, a report highlighted that the ChatGPT maker, OpenAI, is planning to set up its first data centre in India. At that time, the company was still in the process of selecting a partner in India to bring the project to life. It is said to power the company's AI servers that will cater to its user base in India. Meanwhile, it might also host local businesses.
OpenAI and Anthropic have also separately announced that the two will open their first offices in India. The Sam Altman-led firm has also started hiring employees in the country.
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