Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on October 24 said Reliance Industries and Nvidia are partnering to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in India. The announcement was made at the $3 trillion semiconductor giant, Nvidia’s AI Summit in Mumbai where Huang also spoke to Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries in a special fireside chat.
The conversation started with the RIL chairman commenting on what Huang said earlier in the day about naming the company Nvidia, a name Huang always thought of as “mystical”.
Ambani shared his version of what semiconductor giant NVIDIA means to him, and told Huang that the company’s name resonates with ‘vidya’, which means knowledge in Sanskrit. He said it also reflects the efforts towards a new ‘age of intelligence’.
Ambani’s explanation of Vidya in relation to Nvidia excited Huang who said, “I knew I had named the company right…22 years ago I knew this!”
“Everybody said NVIDIA, what a horrible name. You will never make it. I knew it, I stuck with it,” Jensen exclaimed, in response to which Ambani joked that Jensen can ‘take credit for it.’
“Vidya is Saraswati, our goddess of knowledge. So, when you actually devote yourself sincerely to the goddess of knowledge and acquire knowledge, then, in our tradition, the goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi follows,” Ambani told Jensen, who told audiences in jest that the story of NVIDIA has finally been revealed to people.
“Our first principles are what you are driving, that this is the knowledge revolution, converting into what I call the intelligence revolution, and that drives prosperity across the world for all the 8 billion people,” Ambani said.
“I think we are at the doorstep of a new intelligence age,” Ambani said, adding, “Hopefully, this can drive prosperity for the 8 billion people of the world, and particularly for the 1.5 billion people in India.”
AI partnership
“This is an excellent opportunity for India… This is such an extraordinary time. I am honoured and privileged to get to partner with you for this,” Huang told RIL chairman Ambani, after announcing the partnership to build artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in India.
“Apart from the US and China, India has the best digital connectivity infrastructure,” said Ambani during the conversation with Jensen.
“In just one year’s time, by the end of this year, we will have nearly 20 times more compute capacities here in India than just a little over a year ago,” Huang added, referring to the infrastructure for computing.
“Counting on Nvidia to deliver good quality AI infrastructure just the way Jio did it in telecom,” said Ambani.
Huang described the current state of the industry as undergoing a “seismic change” due to AI advancements and suggested that India, which has traditionally been a hub for software exportation, is poised to become a leader in AI exportation in the future.
India will not just deliver CEOs to the world, but also millions of Indians who will deliver AI services to the world, Huang and Ambani said.
“PM Narendra Modi asked me to address his cabinet on AI six years ago, was the first national leader to make such an ask. PM Modi told me India shouldn’t export data to import intelligence, should not export flour to import bread. India exported software; in future, India will export AI,” added Huang.