India is set to host the Chinese AI platform DeepSeek on local servers in a move aimed at addressing privacy concerns surrounding cross-border data transfer. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed this development during a press conference on the IndiaAI Mission, stating that DeepSeek, being an open-source AI model, can be hosted securely on Indian servers. Vaishnaw emphasized that the government’s team is already working on the logistics of the project, including determining the number of servers and their required capacity.
This step aligns with India’s growing focus on data privacy and the regulation of international data flows. By hosting open-source AI models like DeepSeek locally, the government aims to ensure better control over data handling and reduce the risks of sensitive information being transferred outside the country. Vaishnaw also mentioned that this initiative would extend to other open-source models, reflecting India’s broader strategy to strengthen its data sovereignty.
DeepSeek recently made waves in the AI community with its impressive performance, developing a large language model using just 2,000 Nvidia H800 GPUs, far fewer than the 100,000 GPUs used by OpenAI for similar tasks. Notably, the Chinese company achieved this feat with an investment of only $6 million, a fraction of OpenAI’s $100 million investment. This efficient and cost-effective approach has further raised the stakes in the AI race, positioning DeepSeek as a key player in the global AI ecosystem.
(The story will be updated soon)
