K Srinivasan
THIS week has been all about a Chinese stock market company’s AI model called `DeepSeek` that has completely altered the AI horizon and sent seismic shockwaves through the tech world across the US and the rest of the world. According to the New York Times, ‘’DeepSeek’s origins are in finance, not technology for technology’s sake. Its parent company, a Chinese hedge fund called HighFlyer, began not as a laboratory devoted to safeguarding humanity from AI like Open AI, but as a business using AI to make bets in the Chinese stock market.’’
So, what does it tell us about the AI adventure and the Western model Vs the Chinese Model?
Disrupting Americans
One that the Chinese are way smarter than what the rest of the world thinks about them. They are now on par, or nearabouts, the US in space research, they are global leaders in EV technology, and their homegrown networks and mobile telephony are as good and, in some cases, better than what the rest of the world has to offer. They have a state-of-the-art rail and metro network that can bear scrutiny from the best. And the list can go on and on.
Two, the Chinese have decided that they will not be deterred by tough Western sanctions and they will use every trick in the book – saam,dhaam,dhand,bedh–to disrupt the Americans and their allies but get to the ultimate goal of parity in AI. To a large extent, thanks to the laser-like vision of the Communist Party, they have been hugely successful in this endeavour.
A report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation indicates that although China is behind the West in many sectors, it is making significant progress in the fields of semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicles (EVs). “There may be no more important question for the West’s competitive position in advanced industries than whether China is becoming a rival innovator. While the evidence suggests it hasn’t yet taken the overall lead, it has pulled ahead in certain areas, and in many others, Chinese firms will likely equal or surpass Western firms within a decade or so,” the report said.
Indian component
But this West versus China battle also has an Indian component. If indeed India has to be the alternative to China and be the technological Shangri Lal on this side of the globe, what exactly are we doing to scale up our progress?
For one, there is the semiconductor mission that will see the first chips(five factories are in various stages of commission) being rolled out later this year. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Davos, “Our first ‘Made in India’ chip will be rolled out this year and now we are looking at the next phase, where we can get equipment manufacturers, material manufacturers and designers in India”. According to Bloomberg ‘’MukeshAmbani-owned Reliance Industries is planning to build the world’s largest data centre in India. In October 2024,
Reliance and Nvidia announced a collaboration to build AI infrastructure in India during a chat session at the Nvidia AI Summit. The proposed data centre will be between $20-30 billion. Also, last month Microsoft’s SatyaNadella, during a visit to India, announced an investment of $3 billion in AI for various programmes in the subcontinent. One can go on with the list. The problem, though, is that we are only playing catch up and the Chinese are saying ‘catch me if you can’. Thank God,
we have a semiconductor mission, but there is far more we need to do to be the leaders in this business; and that’s an agenda for our netas.
