Exploring AI Startup Potential in India

This episode of Two by Two was first published on 15 May 2025.

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The original big AI bus that came was Large Language Model, or LLMs, the foundational model bus. India missed it.

Then the conversation became let others develop the foundational models, we’ll just do a better job of building applications on top of it. We’ll become the use case capital of the world. There are some startups from India in the space, but none of them are in the same league as their global counterparts.

So in some ways, we’ve missed that bus, too.

Today, the focus has shifted to the need to have compute, the need to set up large data centres, and the need to have our own sovereign data sets.

The government of India is now providing subsidies to startups and large companies.

It’s taking equity. For example, Sarvam AI got a 220 crore grant from the government.

But can we build massive and really expensive data centres at a scale like the United States and China?

What does the future look like for India from an AI point of view?

Host Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan discuss how India has missed many technological waves, including the latest one—AI. Joining them for the episode are Srinath Mallikarjunan, CEO and chief scientist at Unmanned Dynamics, and Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of Takshashila Institution.

Welcome to episode 42 of Two by Two.

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Additional reading:

What China’s cheap AI model tells us about India’s future – https://the-ken.com/the-nutgraf/what-chinas-cheap-ai-model-tells-us-about-indias-future/

India’s AI mission needs many heroes. But it’s settled for one—Sarvam – https://the-ken.com/newsletter/make-india-competitive-again/indias-ai-mission-needs-many-heroes-its-settled-for-one-sarvam/

Inside the legal drama that may exile Ultrahuman from the US – https://the-ken.com/story/a-private-investigator-a-fabricated-logo-and-ouras-death-blow-to-ultrahuman/

Is AI enhancing education or replacing it? – https://www.chronicle.com/article/is-ai-enhancing-education-or-replacing-it

Additional listening:

Are Trump’s tariffs a crisis or an opportunity for India?  – https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/no-easy-moves-is-india-facing-a-crisis-or-an-opportunity/

Ultrahuman and Kukufm have broken out – ​​https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/ultrahuman-and-kuku-fm-have-broken-out/

Sam Altman’s initial comments on India building foundational models – https://youtube.com/shorts/xHVsk7d1L-0?feature=shared

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If you are an existing Premium subscriber, you already have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken’s subscriber apps. If you don’t have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. 

Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.

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This episode of Two by Two was produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.

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