At the India AI Summit 2026, Sundar Pichai presented Google's most ambitious India strategy yet - led by a Rs 1,24,500 crore AI hub in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Google's largest artificial-intelligence investment outside the United States.
The hub will deliver gigawatt-scale compute, clean-energy powered data centres and a major subsea cable gateway, turning Vizag into a global AI connectivity and compute hotspot.
Indian leaders have called the project a "landmark development" that aligns with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and strengthens India's role in global AI flows.
India's Fastest-Growing AI User Base
Pichai noted that India's digital transformation is advancing at an "extraordinary pace," making the country essential to Google's AI roadmap. He highlighted that Indian users are some of the world's largest adopters of voice-driven AI, reshaping how Search is evolving. The Gemini app, available in 10 Indian languages, is also one of its fastest-growing global markets.
AI Partnerships Spanning Government and Education
To deepen AI access and literacy across India, Pichai detailed a suite of collaborations:
- Google DeepMind with the Government of India to expand nationwide AI availability.
- Wadhwani AI partnership to scale AI-focused education and capacity building.
- New partnership with Karmayogi Bharat to integrate AI into public-sector training.
- Collaboration with Atal Tinkering Labs to introduce generative AI tools to school-level innovators.
Strengthening India-US Strategic Tech Corridors
Pichai also pointed to the India-America Subsea Initiative, which will enhance secure, high-speed data movement and deepen AI cooperation between the two nations - crucial for future cross-border compute and research synergy.
India at the Centre of Google's AI Ambitions
Backed by the massive Rs 1.24 lakh crore Vizag investment and fuelled by one of the world's most enthusiastic AI-using populations, Pichai's message was unambiguous: India is not just catching up - it is actively shaping the global AI future.
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