Nvidia launches Hindi-language AI model in India during CEO Huang’s visit
Chip giant Nvidia (NVDA.O) launched a lightweight artificial intelligence model on Thursday tailored for India’s widely spoken Hindi language, aiming to tap into the burgeoning AI market.
Chief Executive Jensen Huang is scheduled to engage in discussions with Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and Asia’s wealthiest individual, at a conference in Mumbai, according to the California-based company.
Nvidia is introducing its new compact language model, named Nemotron-4-Mini-Hindi-4B, which features 4 billion parameters for companies to utilize in developing their own AI models.
“The model was pruned, distilled, and trained using a mix of real-world Hindi data, synthetic Hindi data, and an equivalent amount of English data,” the company stated.
Tech Mahindra, an Indian IT services and consulting firm, is the first to adopt Nvidia’s offering to create a custom AI model called Indus 2.0, which focuses on Hindi and its various dialects, according to the U.S. company.
Only about 10% of India’s 1.4 billion population speaks English, with the constitution recognizing 22 languages.
From large corporations to startups, businesses in India are dedicated to developing AI models based on the country’s diverse languages to enhance consumer engagement and support initiatives like customer service AI assistants, and content translation.
In contrast to large language models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, which powers ChatGPT, small language models are trained on significantly smaller and more specialized datasets.
These models are typically more cost-effective, making them appealing to companies with limited resources.
Global chip manufacturers are investing in India and establishing facilities to bolster their presence as the nation strives to develop its semiconductor industry and compete with major hubs like Taiwan, although analysts indicate that this endeavor may take years.
Nvidia, which first entered the Indian market some 20 years ago, has offices in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, two key cities, as well as engineering and design facilities throughout the nation.
