AI Kosha: India’s Repository for AI Development

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Sec: Awareness in IT and Computer

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The Union government has launched AI Kosha, a centralized repository of non-personal datasets aimed at facilitating the development of artificial intelligence (AI) models and tools. The initiative is a part of the broader IndiaAI Mission, with an outlay of ₹10,370 crore.

AI Kosha:

AI Kosha serves as a platform for non-personal datasets to enable AI model training.
At launch, the platform contains 316 datasets, which include information from Telangana’s open data initiative, 2011 Census data, satellite imagery, meteorological data, and pollution data.
AI Kosha is one of the seven pillars of the IndiaAI Mission.
Under its Compute Capacity pillar, the government has enabled pooled access to GPUs for startups and academia.
The number of GPUs commissioned has been increased from 10,000 to 14,000, with plans to expand further on a quarterly basis.
The government has designated Chief Data Officers across ministries and departments. These officers are responsible for curating and providing datasets that can be accessed by researchers, companies, and policymakers.

IndiaAI Mission:

The IndiaAI Mission is a comprehensive national initiative launched by the Government of India to position the country as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI).
With a budget outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore, the mission is structured around seven key pillars:
- IndiaAI Compute: Establish a high-end computing ecosystem with over 10,000 GPUs to support AI research and development.
- IndiaAI Innovation Centre: Foster innovation by providing a collaborative platform for AI research and development.
- IndiaAI Dataset Platform: Create a repository of high-quality datasets to facilitate the training and validation of AI models.
- IndiaAI Application Development Initiatives: Promote the development of AI applications across sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and education.
- IndiaAI Future Skills: Equip the workforce with AI and technology-focused skills to meet industry demands.
- IndiaAI Startup Financing: Provide risk capital to AI startups to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
- Safe & Trusted AI: Ensure the ethical and responsible use of AI technologies.

Access to Non-Personal Data:

In 2018, a committee led by Kris Gopalakrishnan was formed to explore the possibility of mandatory data-sharing by private firms.
The objective was to grant startups and government bodies access to non-personal data, such as traffic data from ride-sharing apps.
The report was submitted in 2020, but faced resistance from the tech industry, which was reluctant to share proprietary data.