India becomes a major magnet for global AI investments. India is quickly becoming one of the top places in the world for major artificial intelligence investments.

Some of the most influential global companies, including Big Tech firms like Amazon, Google and Microsoft, are now looking closely at India because of its young population and its strong potential for digital innovation.

The combination of a young and growing population along with widely available cheap data has made the country a natural ground for AI driven growth.

India, the world’s most populous nation, also continues to be a fast-growing market for US tech giants such as Amazon and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, even though they have faced regulatory challenges and strong domestic competition.

Amazon on December 10 said it will invest $35 billion in the country by 2030, which will strengthen its presence in one of its biggest global markets. The company plans to focus on artificial intelligence and logistics infrastructure and aims to expand its cloud computing services and quick commerce operations.

Amit Agarwal, SVP Emerging Markets at Amazon, said the investments are expected to create an additional 3.8 million direct and indirect jobs in India by 2030.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 9 and promised to invest $17.5 billion by 2029, which is the company’s largest commitment in Asia.

The company said the investment will support its cloud and AI expansion and its ongoing operations around the country, including its workforce of more than 22000 employees in Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Gurugram, Noida and other cities.

Microsoft is also promoting its AI assistant Copilot by giving students free access.

In October, Google announced a $15 billion commitment to set up a large-scale AI hub in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, which will be its biggest investment outside the US.

Google said the facility will combine its AI infrastructure and data centres with renewable energy sources and will become the first gigawatt-scale data centre campus in India.

The company said the project could generate up to 1 lakh jobs by 2030.

Intel, Cognizant and OpenAI push India’s AI edge

India’s semiconductor sector, which is essential for AI development, received a major boost when Tata Electronics secured Intel as a prospective buyer for its chip manufacturing facilities. This agreement reflects Intel’s growing confidence in India’s chip-making capabilities.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar also met PM Modi and expressed support for India’s AI First initiative while the company announced plans to speed up AI adoption and skill development.

Several reports also say that OpenAI is in discussions with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to launch the India chapter of Stargate which is the ChatGPT maker’s ambitious AI project. OpenAI is also giving Indian users a one-year free subscription to ChatGPT Pro.

The Central government has increased its efforts to support AI development in the country. Last year, the Centre approved the IndiaAI Mission with a budget of over Rs 10000 crore.

In November, the IT ministry released new AI governance guidelines to promote innovation rather than what it called “heavy-handed regulation”.

The government has also announced a Centre of Excellence in AI for education to support research and prepare an AI-ready workforce. Several states, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, have also introduced their own AI plans to attract investments.

With global companies investing heavily in India, local giants are also moving fast. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have expanded their AI-related plans. Both telecom companies now offer free subscriptions to Gemini Pro and Perplexity Pro with their data plans, bringing AI tools directly into the hands of millions of Indians.