PM Modi, Nadella hold talks on AI tech, data privacy

BENGALURU: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met PM Narendra Modi on Monday and expressed his appreciation for his leadership and commitment towards positioning India as AI-first, whilst ensuring appropriate guardrails for a secure digital future.
“Thank you, PM Narendra Modi ji, for your leadership. Excited to build on our commitment to making India AI-first and work together on our continued expansion in the country to ensure every Indian benefits from this AI platform shift,” Nadella wrote on X after meeting the PM.
Modi and Nadella discussed tech, innovation, and AI, even as the former championed the ethical use of AI and setting data privacy standards. Modi responded to Nadella’s social media post, “It was indeed a delight to meet you, @satyanadella! Glad to know about Microsoft’s ambitious expansion and investment plans in India. It was also wonderful discussing various aspects of tech, innovation, and AI in our meeting.”
Last week, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and some of his cabinet colleagues met Nadella in his hometown of Hyderabad. Nadella is also in India for the Microsoft AI tour that begins in Bengaluru on Tuesday, with a CEO conclave followed by his keynote address. Recently, Microsoft, in a blog post, said that it’s on track to invest approximately $80 billion in FY25 to build out AI-enabled data centres to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications around the world. It said more than half of this total investment will be in the US.
In the last two years, Modi met several leaders in AI, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to discuss the future of India’s AI adoption and the need for global regulations. Recently, he met Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI startup Perplexity, whose firm is valued at $9 billion after it closed $500 million in funding recently.