At the recent AI Summit in Mumbai, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries, offered an intriguing interpretation of Nvidia’s name, linking it to "Vidya," a Sanskrit term meaning knowledge, which is closely associated with the Hindu goddess Saraswati. His remarks came during a dialogue with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, underscoring India's growing significance in the global artificial intelligence landscape.
Ambani articulated his thoughts on the name "Nvidia," emphasizing the connection between knowledge and prosperity, symbolized by Goddess Lakshmi in Indian culture. "While I was listening to you, you talked about Nvidia being an exotic place. And I was thinking that when you were in India, I have got to give you my version of what Nvidia means to me," Ambani stated, highlighting the word "Vidya" as a reflection of the country’s aspirations in AI development. He added that knowledge, or Vidya, is vital in the pursuit of creating advanced large language models (LLMs).
Jensen Huang responded enthusiastically, acknowledging the serendipity of the name in relation to India's role in Nvidia’s strategy. He reminisced about the initial skepticism surrounding the company’s name, saying, “I knew, I named the company, right? I knew it. So, everybody said, Nvidia, what a horrible name. You will never make it. 32 years ago, I knew this.” Huang pointed out that if one removes the "V" from Nvidia, it closely resembles "India," further emphasizing the nation’s integral position in the company’s global ambitions.
Huang also discussed the evolving landscape of technology, noting that the industry can no longer rely solely on Moore’s law, which posits that computing power doubles every two years. He introduced the concept of "computing inflation," stating that advancements in AI are occurring at an accelerated pace, four times faster than before. This acceleration is evident in India, where the computing hardware infrastructure is projected to expand 20-fold by year-end, reflecting the country’s rising importance in the tech sector.
Ambani praised India’s remarkable digital transformation, attributed largely to Reliance Jio, which propelled the country from 158th to first place in global digital connectivity within just eight years. He pointed out that data costs in India are significantly lower than in many parts of the world, with Jio charging only 15 cents per gigabyte, a stark contrast to the $5 per gigabyte typically found in the US.
However, both Ambani and Huang emphasized the need for responsible AI usage, particularly in reducing global inequalities and addressing the needs of nations in the Global South. Huang also spoke to India’s potential to transition from being viewed as the world's IT back-office to emerging as a leader in AI. He referred to this evolution as "Software 2.0," suggesting that the successful development of AI-powered software in India could position the country to export advanced AI solutions worldwide.
Despite these promising developments, Huang acknowledged the significant challenge posed by India's linguistic diversity. With a multitude of languages and dialects, India presents a complex environment for developing large language models. He stated, “Once you crack LLMs in India, you can build them anywhere in the world,” highlighting the intricacies of Hindi, where dialects can shift every 50 kilometers, complicating AI development efforts.
Overall, the discussions at the AI Summit underscored not only the potential for India to become a pivotal player in the AI sector but also the importance of addressing its unique challenges, particularly in the realm of linguistic diversity, to harness the full benefits of artificial intelligence.
