Rishi retweeted
An unfortunate incident. I am sure the @iitbombay leadership will look into making the campus support system more sensitive so no student feels hopeless and driven to take such an extreme step. Role of peer groups and mentoring also equally important. Hope fellow students and @iitbombay alumni are able to step up and offer such mentoring and support so nobody feels left behind or lost in the campus environment.
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Rishi retweeted
Should India adopt AI or build its own?
I think we're asking the wrong question.
Because, the real answer is we need both.
A few thoughts on why Adoption and Sovereignty are complements, not substitutes.
WDYT?
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Rishi retweeted
Respectfully, India should do both.
We should aggressively adopt the world’s best AI models to boost productivity today.
And we should invest in our own models to preserve strategic autonomy tomorrow.
In an era of 'weaponised interdependence', AI sovereignty is not a luxury.
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I don’t believe we can outspend OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google to build the world’s leading models. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t build our own.
As models commoditise, the gap between frontier models and the previous generation shrinks. What is cutting edge today becomes accessible tomorrow.
For critical use cases like government, defence, intelligence, and strategic sectors, we don’t want to be dependent on the AI equivalent of Gmail.
For everything else, we should unapologetically adopt the best models available and use them to boost productivity.
The choice isn’t sovereignty or adoption.
It’s sovereignty AND adoption.
India doesn't need to lead the world in building the most advanced AI models. But it must lead in ensuring benefits of AI are widely shared.
@rvenk and I have an op-ed in The @EconomicTimes
economictimes.indiatimes.com…
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Rishi retweeted
Don't fall for the doomer narratives about India.
We have folks like @rishibal, who left a comfortable life in the US to return to India and work on our Sovereign AI initiative with @BharatGen_Com.
Watch this fascinating conversation on how a group of bright young folks are helping us level up on AI 👇👇
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Rishi retweeted
During my visit to @iitbombay , I had the opportunity to interact with the team of @BharatGen_Com, an initiative led by Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan. Seeded by @IndiaDST under its cyber physical mission and subsequently supported under the @OfficialINDIAai Mission by @GoI_MeitY, BharatGen is working towards the development of sovereign foundational Large Language Models (LLMs) for India.
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Rishi retweeted
Dear @NandanNilekani You initiated a huge technology based revolution in India by starting with a strong "foundation" (aadhar), why not with AI? Once again, I respectfully, but strongly, disagree. India should be aiming to do both. Otherwise, it won't be a true leader.
India doesn't need to lead the world in building the most advanced AI models. But it must lead in ensuring benefits of AI are widely shared.
@rvenk and I have an op-ed in The @EconomicTimes
economictimes.indiatimes.com…
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Rishi retweeted
"We need exclusive LLMs. On those LLMs, put 50 solid data engineers. An additional secretary doing AI or a major general doing AI is pointless, he doesn’t understand AI. Someone with real AI expertise has to come in and be told: this is our data..." - @Gen_RajShukla
“Rafales and missiles are useless unless you have software that leverages their delivery. So we must invest in AI. The 12 models Mr Vaishnaw has created, three or four should go to the military because our data cannot be shared in the civil stream. We need exclusive LLMs. On those LLMs, put 50 solid data engineers. An additional secretary doing AI or a major general doing AI is pointless, he doesn’t understand AI. Someone with real AI expertise has to come in and be told: this is our data, these are our combat plans, now leverage them.” Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd) on what the Indian defence industry should focus on.
Watch Full Episode Here: piped.video/YlADoOEX9W4
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Rishi retweeted
Was playing with @BharatGen_Com language model built by @ganramkr, @rishibal & team — truly impressive, given
• Just a 17B model (smaller than GPT-3) now
• Only at the pre-training stage — yet to be fine-tuned/aligned
• Developed with highly constrained resources
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Rishi retweeted
Param-2 is live on @huggingface.
17B parameter MoE. 22 trillion tokens. 22 Indian languages. Reasoning, math, code, tool calling.
Built from scratch, in India, open for the world.
🤗 Try it now: huggingface.co/bharatgenai/P…
#BharatGen #Param2 #OpenSource
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Rishi retweeted
🤝 CM Devendra Fadnavis presided over the signing of MoU between the Govt of Maharashtra (IT Dept), BharatGen Technology Foundation and IIT Bombay at the ‘India AI Impact Summit 2026’ in New Delhi today.
This agreement establishes a structured institutional framework to foster collaboration in Artificial Intelligence and digital governance.
This partnership will focus on knowledge exchange, applied research, pilot projects, and capacity building in emerging AI domains.
Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar, CS, Prof. Milind Atrey, Deputy Director at IIT Bombay, representatives from BharatGen, were present too.
🤝 मुख्यमंत्री देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांच्या प्रमुख उपस्थितीत आज नवी दिल्ली येथे आयोजित ‘इंडिया एआय इम्पॅक्ट समिट 2026’ मध्ये माहिती व तंत्रज्ञान विभाग, महाराष्ट्र शासन, भारतजेन टेक्नॉलॉजी फाउंडेशन आणि आयआयटी मुंबई यांच्यात सामंजस्य करार करण्यात आला. या कराराद्वारे आर्टिफिशल इंटेलिजन्स (AI) आणि प्रशासकीय यंत्रणांचे डिजिटायजेशन या क्षेत्रात संस्थात्मक सहकार्याची स्पष्ट रूपरेषा ठरविण्यात आली आहे. या भागीदारीत माहितीची देवाणघेवाण, उपयोजित संशोधन, प्रायोगिक प्रकल्प आणि उदयोन्मुख AI क्षेत्रांमध्ये क्षमता बांधणी यावर भर दिला जाणार आहे.
यावेळी मंत्री ॲड. आशिष शेलार, मुख्य सचिव, आयआयटी मुंबई चे उपसंचालक प्रा. मिलिंद अत्रे, भारतजेनचे प्रतिनिधी आणि इतर मान्यवर उपस्थित होते.
@Dev_Fadnavis @ShelarAshish @BharatGen_Com @iitbombay @OfficialINDIAai
#NewDelhi #DevendraFadnavis #AIImpactSummit #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026
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Rishi retweeted
Good to see international media take note of India’s sovereign AI models @ganramkr @rishibal @AI4IndiaOrg
India LLMs take on global giants with potent weapon: Local languages s.nikkei.com/4r1s3P9
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We are very excited to be working with the government of Andhra Pradesh on the future of AI for citizen services.
Andhra Pradesh has partnered with BharatGen, NexGen, and IBM India to launch a State-wide AI Tech Hub. The initiative will empower citizens, from farmers to fishermen, setting a national example with an inclusive, Telugu-first, citizen-focused AI, with future Quantum-AI integration. Delighted to be joined by Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan (BharatGen), Hrishikesh Mohal Bal (BharatGen), A S Rajgopal (NxtGen), Abhisyant Anasapurapu (NxtGen), Dr. Amith Singhee (IBM Research India), and Sandip Patel (IBM India).
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Rishi retweeted
Andhra Pradesh has partnered with BharatGen, NexGen, and IBM India to launch a State-wide AI Tech Hub. The initiative will empower citizens, from farmers to fishermen, setting a national example with an inclusive, Telugu-first, citizen-focused AI, with future Quantum-AI integration. Delighted to be joined by Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan (BharatGen), Hrishikesh Mohal Bal (BharatGen), A S Rajgopal (NxtGen), Abhisyant Anasapurapu (NxtGen), Dr. Amith Singhee (IBM Research India), and Sandip Patel (IBM India).
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The Artificial Intelligence is no longer an option but an essential component of working in every sphere of life: says Union Minister @DrJitendraSingh at session on “BharatGen Models: Vision and Technical Execution 2026”. #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026
@PrinSciAdvGoI @PrinSciAdvOff @karandi65 @kris_sg @BharatGen_Com @OfficialINDIAai @IndiaAiExpo
🔗pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.…
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India kicks off one of the world’s largest artificial intelligence summits Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to clear a path for India in a heated race to develop frontier models. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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BharatGen in parliament!
My intervention in #RajyaSabha on #BharatGen — India’s first government-owned, sovereign, Large Language Model, #LLM, powered by AI.
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#WATCH | Delhi | CEO of BharatGen, Rishi Bal says, "The event today is about artificial intelligence and the opportunities for India to adopt artificial intelligence for its progress...We'd like to share opportunities for people in government, industry, and students to work with and build with BharatGen...It is essential for India to have its own AI solutions, built in India, so they actually work for us better..."
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It was incredible to meet the honorable PM and share our vision for @BharatGen_Com with him.
#WATCH | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Roundtable with Indian AI Start-Ups at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, earlier today.
Ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 to be held in India next month, 12 Indian AI start-ups who have qualified for the AI for ALL: Global Impact Challenge in the Summit attended the roundtable and presented their ideas and work.
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Rishi retweeted
Welcoming Rishi Bal, Head of BharatGen, to PPPF 2026.
Leading India’s sovereign AI effort, he brings experience from government, Google Research, Microsoft and startups to the AI ecosystem conversation.
#PPPF2026 #SovereignAI #AIEcosystem
@rishibal
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Wonderful chatting with @sochbySJ at #NeysaAI about the future of sovereign AI and building foundational AI in India. A big thanks to the team at Neysa and @sharad_sanghi for their ongoing support for @BharatGen_Com.
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