PM discusses AI, semiconductors with tech CEOs, Google's Sundar Pichai present

PM Narendra Modi met with some of the leading American innovators and industry leaders from various sectors, including biotechnology, semiconductors and electronics, to discuss what potential for innovation India might have to offer.

In Short

• Meeting focused on innovation in biotech, semiconductors, electronics
• Google's Sundar Pichai and IBM's Arvind Krishna attended
• Meeting follows bilateral talks on semiconductor supply chain

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on the three-day US visit, sat down in New York with some of the leading American innovators and technology industry leaders from various sectors, including biotechnology, semiconductors and electronics, to have "fruitful" discussions about what potential for innovation India might have to offer in enhancing these sectors and making them accessible to a larger population.

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai attended the round table meeting along with IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna and Noubar Afeyan, the chairman of Moderna, amongst others.

"Had a fruitful round table with tech CEOs in New York, discussing aspects relating to technology, innovation and more. Also highlighted the strides made by India in this field. I am glad to see immense optimism towards India," PM Modi wrote on X after the discussions.

"PM emphasised India’s growth prospects and discussed initiatives to foster collaboration and innovation across diverse sectors," said Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on X.

The primary goal of the meeting, organised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was to engage in productive conversations and build relations with the industry leaders with the end goal of exploring any room for collaboration between the industries they lead and represent in the US and India. Artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing and biotechnology were the main features.

The meeting transpired just a day after PM Modi held bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden at his residence in Delaware. During the talks, both leaders acknowledged and praised the mutual efforts being made by both countries in facilitating a semiconductor supply chain. Also mentioned was the recently set up GlobalFoundries’ (GF) Kolkata Power Centre that aims to benefit both countries in semiconductor development and research.

According to a fact sheet detailing the talks released by the White House, the two leaders agreed to continuous collaboration between India and the US to foster and develop emerging technologies, from AI to advanced semiconductor processors.

Before the CEO round table, PM Modi also addressed a large crowd of the Indian-American community congregated at Long Island to hear the leader of their home country talk.

On his third and final day of the visit, PM Modi will be addressing the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.