New Delhi, Oct 26 (IANS): Union Minister for Electronics and IT and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Saturday said the country’s AI mission is advancing with strong collaborations among industry, government and academia.

In a post on X, Vaishnaw said he met Meta's Chief AI Scientist Dr Yann LeCun and discussed the country’s potential in AI and skilling the youth.

"Met @ylecun of Meta to discuss Bharat’s AI potential. Our AI mission is advancing with strong collaborations among industry, government, and academia: GenAI Centre of Excellence (CoE) with IIT Jodhpur and Meta, and YuvAI Skilling with AICTE and Meta to train 1,00,000 students on LLM (large language models)," the minister said.

LeCun said it was "a pleasure discussing the important role Bharat plays today and can play tomorrow in the ecosystem of AI open platforms".

On Friday, Meta announced a strategic collaboration with IndiaAI at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), including the establishment of the Center for Generative AI called ‘Shrijan’ at IIT Jodhpur and the launch of the "AI for Skilling and Capacity Building" initiative, in partnership with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Meta has committed to investing up to Rs 7.5 crore over the next three years to ensure the successful establishment and operation of the centre.

Additional Secretary, MeitY, Abhishek Singh, said the government is supporting the vision of AI innovation, skilling and technological advancement to drive inclusive growth under the ‘IndiaAI’ initiative.

"By fostering a culture of open-source innovation in AI, advancing research and skill development in emerging technologies, we are bridging the talent gap and ensuring that our youth are equipped to lead in the AI revolution, ultimately securing India’s position as a global leader in responsible development and contributing to a robust AI ecosystem," said Singh.

According to Meta India's Vice President and Head of Public Policy, Shivnath Thukral, they are committed to nurturing an ecosystem where indigenous solutions can flourish.