Google to Establish Mega AI Hub in India: Sundar Pichai Briefs PM Modi on $15 Billion Investment

In a landmark commitment to India’s digital future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Tuesday announced a massive investment plan to establish the company’s first-ever Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in India, following a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This development positions India, and specifically the city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, at the forefront of the global AI landscape.

Google has pledged a staggering $15 billion investment over the next five years for the project, making it the tech giant’s largest AI hub outside of the United States. The announcement, made during a Google-hosted event in New Delhi, aligns with the Indian government’s “Viksit Bharat 2047” vision, which seeks to accelerate AI-driven services across the nation.

Details of the ‘Landmark Development’

The flagship AI hub, set to be located in Visakhapatnam, is described by Google as a “landmark development.” Pichai shared key components of the ambitious project in a social media post after his meeting with PM Modi, highlighting its three main pillars:

1. Gigawatt-Scale Compute Capacity: The hub will house a purpose-built data centre campus, offering immense computing power essential for training and running sophisticated AI models. This one-gigawatt (GW) hyperscale data centre is intended to meet the booming demand for digital and AI services across India and globally.
2. New International Subsea Gateway: The facility will incorporate a new international subsea gateway, linking Visakhapatnam to Google’s extensive global network of subsea and terrestrial fiber optic cables. This is expected to transform the port city into a major AI and connectivity hub for the broader Asian region.
3. Large-Scale Energy Infrastructure: The entire complex will be underpinned by robust energy infrastructure, which includes co-investments in clean energy generation, new transmission lines, and advanced energy storage systems, emphasizing a long-term commitment to sustainable, integrated infrastructure.

Accelerating India’s AI and Digital Economy

Google CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized that the hub will serve as a powerful engine for innovation. “Through it, we will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country,” he stated. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian echoed this sentiment, calling it a “landmark investment in India’s digital future” that will enable businesses to innovate faster and drive inclusive growth.

The facility is designed to offer a full stack of AI solutions, deploying Google’s proprietary Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) for energy-efficient computing. Crucially, by housing data locally, the hub will help meet sovereign AI requirements and support the deployment of Google’s state-of-the-art models like Gemini, Imagine, and Veo to Indian enterprises and commercial organizations.

The multi-faceted project, which also involves a partnership with the Adani Group for the data centre campus, is projected to create substantial economic and societal opportunities, including the potential for up to 180,000 new jobs in the region, positioning Visakhapatnam as India’s new AI powerhouse. The investment marks a new chapter in India’s journey toward digital transformation and reinforces the growing strategic cooperation between the US and India in the technology sector.