NEW DELHI: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday met with Chief AI Scientist of Meta, Yann LeCun to discuss opportunities in the area of artificial intelligence.
The minister said in a post on social media X that India’s AI Mission has been helpful in advancing robust collaborations among the industry, government, and academia.
“Met @ylecun (Yann LeCun) of Meta to discuss Bharat’s AI potential. Our AI mission is advancing with strong collaborations among industry, government, and academia: GenAI CoE with IIT Jodhpur and Meta. YuvAI Skilling with AICTE and Meta to train 1,00,000 students on LLM,” Vaishanw posted on X.
On October 25, IndiaAI and Meta announced the establishment of the Center for Generative AI, Srijan at IIT Jodhpur, along with the launch of the “YuvAi Initiative for Skilling and Capacity Building” in collaboration with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), for the advancement of open source artificial intelligence (AI) in India.
The partnership will enable the development of Indigenous AI applications, advance skill development in AI, and boost research capabilities with the aim of contributing to India’s AI mission of ensuring tech sovereignty and the vision of building AI solutions that are tailor-made for India.
As part of this collaboration, Meta will support the establishment of the Center for Generative AI, Srijan, (“GenAI CoE”) at IIT Jodhpur, according to the details shared by Ministry of Electronics and IT.
This GenAI CoE aims to advance research and development in AI while fostering the growth of responsible and ethical AI technologies in India. It will support and enhance open science innovation across the AI technology landscape.
Through education, capacity building, and policy advisory, the center will be empowering the next generation of researchers, students, and practitioners with the knowledge and tools necessary for the responsible development and deployment of GenAI technologies.
Meta, in collaboration with MeitY and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), also launched the “YuvAi initiative for Skilling and Capacity Building” . This program aims to bridge the AI talent gap in the country by empowering 100,000 students and young developers aged 18-30 to leverage open-source large language models (LLMs) to address real-world challenges.
It aims to build capacity in generative AI skills, utilizing open-source LLMs while fostering AI innovation across key sectors. Over the next three years, the initiative will train one lakh youth, developers, and entrepreneurs, contributing significantly to India’s AI ecosystem across critical sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities, and financial inclusion.
This will include the establishment of a Gen AI Resource Hub with courses, case studies, and open datasets; an LLM for Young Developers Course designed by Meta; and Master Training Activation Workshops to introduce participants to foundational AI concepts. The program also features Unleash LLM Hackathons, where students will submit AI solutions to address real-world problems, with top ideas receiving mentoring, seed grants, and market support. Additionally, the AI Innovation Accelerator will identify and support 10 student-led startups experimenting with open-source AI models, offering incubation and visibility.
