AI downloads in India surpass US, China: FM Sitharaman

Kottayam: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has highlighted the rapid pace of innovation in India and the country’s leadership position in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

In her address at the convocation ceremony of IIIT Kottayam, she pointed out Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s comment that India is the ‘use case capital of AI,’ is a “very big statement” as it means that “we are not just talking about AI or doing research in AI. We are implementing it on a large scale.”

Underscoring the awareness about AI in the country, she added that India recorded 3 billion AI-related app downloads in 2024 which was far ahead of the US’ number of 1.5 billion and China’s 1.3 billion.

“We are not just leading in Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption but we are also shaping how AI is governed,” the Finance Minister said in her address at the convocation ceremony of IIIT Kottayam in Kerala.

“At the recent AI Action Summit in Paris, which India co-chaired with France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about how AI is not just a national issue but a global responsibility. It is very important to have an AI which is ethical, inclusive and trustworthy,” FM Sitharaman observed.

She pointed out that the fear that some sections of society may have, about AI leading to a lot of undetected unethical practices will not be addressed “unless we, from the beginning, understand it with responsibility.”

The Finance Minister said that the country is not just experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI), but the government at the centre has taken a lot of inputs from stakeholders and is continuously coming up with policies to make sure that AI gets due attention

She also highlighted that India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index has improved to 39th in 2024 among 133 economies from the 81st position in 2015.

FM Sitharaman pointed out that India’s patent-to-GDP ratio, a measure of the economic impact of patent activity, has grown significantly from 144 in 2013 to 381 in 2023. The country now holds the seventh position in intangible asset intensity, surpassing the growth rates of many high-income economies.

She also highlighted that India secured the sixth spot in global intellectual property filings as per WIPO in 2023 and the country has improved its Network Readiness Index ranking from 79th in 2019 to 49th in 2024, reflecting the advance towards greater innovation and self-reliance.

–IANS