Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has praised the Chinese startup DeepSeek for its revolutionary AI assistant, highlighting its cost-effective approach that mirrors India’s efforts to develop a localized AI model. Vaishnaw compared the startup’s $5.5 million investment in creating a powerful AI model with India’s ambitious $1.25 billion IndiaAI mission launched in March 2024, which aims to foster AI startups and build AI infrastructure in the country.
Speaking at an event in Odisha on Tuesday, Vaishnaw pointed out that despite spending just a fraction of the funds, DeepSeek managed to create a highly efficient AI model in just two months, utilizing Nvidia’s H800 chips. He emphasized that the use of brainpower, rather than significant financial investment, was key to this achievement. He said, “Some people question the amount of investment the government has committed in IndiaAI mission. You have seen what DeepSeek has done? $5.5 million and a very very powerful model.”
DeepSeek’s success has challenged global assumptions about AI development, with the app even surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT in downloads on the Apple App Store. The company’s success has led to a reassessment of the costs and potential of AI technologies, particularly in China, where skeptics had long believed the country lagged behind the US in the AI race.
Vaishnaw’s remarks also seemed to respond to OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who had questioned whether India could build substantial AI models with a budget of just $10 million. Altman’s comments last year suggested it was “hopeless” for India to compete with OpenAI in training foundational AI models. With DeepSeek’s success, those doubts are now in the spotlight again, especially with Altman set to visit India on February 5 amidst ongoing legal battles over copyright issues.
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