India to assume chair of Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence

NEW DELHI: India will take over the chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), said the ministry of electronics and IT on Sunday.

The minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar will represent India at the GPAI meeting. It will be held on 21 November 2022 in Tokyo for the symbolic takeover from France, which is the outgoing Council Chair.

“In the election to the council chair, India received more than a two-third majority of first-preference votes while Canada and the United States of America ranked in the two next best places in the tally,” the ministry added.

For the 2022-2023 Steering Committee, the five government seats will be held by Japan (as Lead Council Chair and Co-Chair of the Steering Committee), France (Outgoing Council Chair), India (Incoming Council Chair), Canada and the United States.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has catalyzed the tech landscape and is pushing the envelope of human possibilities further. “It is expected to add $967 billion to Indian economy by 2035 and $450-500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025, accounting for 10 percent of the country’s $5 trillion GDP target. AI is a kinetic enabler for growth of India’s technology ecosystem and a force multiplier for achieving $1 trillion digital economy goal by 2025,” the ministry said.

GPAI is an international initiative to support responsible and human-centric development and use of AI. It is a congregation of 25 member countries, including the US, the UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and Singapore. India joined the group in 2020 as a founding member.

A first-of-its-type, GPAI works for evolving better understanding of challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating countries, the alliance will look to bridge the gap between theory and practice by supporting advanced research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.

It works in collaboration with partners and international organizations, leading experts from industry, civil society, governments, and academia to collaborate to promote responsible evolution of AI and guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.