New Delhi, Feb 19: Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, on Thursday called Artificial Intelligence the “biggest platform shift of our lifetimes,” emphasizing its potential to accelerate scientific discovery and economic development in emerging markets.
Addressing the India AI Impact Summit, Pichai urged governments and industry to collaborate responsibly, noting that AI’s benefits are not automatic and require strategic deployment.
He cited Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold, a protein-folding AI used by over three million researchers in 190+ countries, as an example of AI enabling rapid breakthroughs in drug discovery and vaccine development.
Pichai also outlined Google’s expanding investments in India, including a $15 billion full-stack AI hub in Visakhapatnam. The facility will house gigawatt-scale computing and a new international subsea cable gateway, providing high-performance infrastructure for AI applications and creating jobs. He noted additional initiatives, including four new subsea optic cables connecting India and the United States.
On workforce implications, Pichai said AI will automate some roles, evolve others, and create entirely new career paths. Google plans to train 100 million people in digital skills to support adaptation to AI-driven changes.
