In the highly competitive race to lead in the rapidly advancing field of generative AI, India is facing an uphill battle to catch up to leading global players. Although the South Asian economy hosts one of the world’s largest startup ecosystems, none of its homegrown companies have managed to establish a strong mark in the expansive AI sector yet. Big names like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic backed by Google Ventures and Google’s Bard are dominating this space.
Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein commented that those 1500 startups in India who have been given more than four billion dollars in terms of funding are not strong enough to win the AI-innovation battle. While Indian major startups are usingMachine learning to advance various aspects of their companies, Flipkart has leveraged the technology to refine customer shopping experiences; Razorpay tackling payments frauds and Vedantu revamping its live classes for better accessibilities and budget, the gap in skilled labor force is said to be the stumbling block for the country, especially with generative AI making its way.
A study by Dev Khare, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners India, revealed that AI could be potentially disrupting industries such as market research, content making, legal analysis, financial decoding and IT services jobs. Nevertheless, India can also see it as a chance of progression – improvements in agriculture sectors for workforce and automation of excessive labor in manufacturing being the top priorities. To maximize advantages from AI, upskilling and productive utilization of available resources is key. Companies like Infosys and TCS are already introducing AI projects with solutions to aid clients.
The Indian government is keen in the promotion of digital economy with AI as the leader, removing all sorts of regulations on its growth. The recent emergence of new startups focusing on the generative AI technology coupled with venture firms like Surge, Sequoia India & Southeast Asia and Accel who have invested heavily in AI, have given hope to the nation. Startups like Gan which enables businesses to repurpose videos, TrueFoundry facilitating ChatGPT with proprietary data, and Cube providing AI-powered customer support are emerging as powerful players in this space.
Now it for India to capitalize on these investments and consequently, make a mark in the generative AI race. With the right push from the government, startups, and venture firms, India can make significant leaps in this technology and eventually lead the race.
