Accelerating discovery in India through AI-powered science and education
We believe AI will be the most transformative technology in human history and that it should be deployed in ways that benefit all of humanity. This requires deep, strategic collaboration between frontier AI labs, governments, academia, and civil society.
To fully realise AI’s potential, Google DeepMind is working with governments through our National Partnerships for AI initiative to broaden access to our frontier AI capabilities, helping ensure they are deployed to serve citizens and meet national priorities in science, education, resilience, and public services.
Building on our collaborations with the US and UK governments, we are establishing a new partnership with Indian government bodies and local institutions. In the global AI transformation, India is showing exceptional leadership in applying the technology to tackle its own biggest challenges. But India is going even further, playing a critical international role by convening this week the fourth global AI summit of governments, companies and civil society. International dialogue and collaboration will guide positive impacts and create the global frameworks required to prepare society for a future with AI.
Partnership in India to broaden AI access
Our partnerships are designed to accelerate the pace of progress across India. Here are a few ways we are working together to unlock new possibilities in science and education.
Advancing scientific breakthroughs
Google DeepMind, Google Research and Google.org are partnering with the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to facilitate the adoption of AI models to advance science. We’re providing access to our frontier AI for Science models, supporting hackathons and community contests, and enabling training and mentorship to students, researchers, and those in the early stages of their careers.
Researchers and engineers in India will be able to use our AI tools, including:
- AlphaGenome: An AI model to help scientists better understand how mutations in human DNA sequences impact a wide range of gene functions
- AI Co-scientist: A multi-agent AI system that acts as a virtual scientific collaborator
- Earth AI: A collection of models built on Gemini’s advanced reasoning that are helping enterprises, nonprofits, and cities with everything from environmental monitoring to disaster response
Scientists around the world are already using AlphaFold - our AI system capable of accurately predicting the structure and interactions of proteins, DNA, RNA, ligands and more - to accelerate discoveries. India stands as the fourth largest adopter of AlphaFold globally, with over 180,000 researchers using it today. We hope to see Indian scientists benefit even more from using AlphaGenome and the other AI systems we are now providing.
We're also working to support AI for science at a global level. This is why, today at the India Summit, we announced the $30 million Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Science, an open call for researchers, nonprofits, and social enterprises in India, and around the world, using AI to achieve scientific breakthroughs. Selected awardees will also have the opportunity to participate in a Google.org Accelerator, receiving engineering support, expert mentorship, and infrastructure from Google DeepMind and Google Research to turn their concepts into scalable discoveries.
Empowering India’s Students and Teachers with an AI-powered Future
Our recent survey with Ipsos has shown that learning is the top motivation for using AI globally. This is especially true in India, which now leads the world in daily Gemini usage by students. We’re seeing AI can drive profound comprehension and critical thinking when it is purpose-built for learning and implemented as a supportive partner to educators.
At City Montessori School in Lucknow, teachers are integrating Guided Learning into math classes for Grade 8-9 students and seeing a positive response. An early analysis of a randomized control study conducted by Fab AI shows that students are demonstrating a desire for deeper learning, not just quick answers: in almost three out of every four conversations on Gemini, students sought to develop their understanding rather than a quick answer or shortcut.
That’s why we’re expanding efforts with additional partners to supercharge the potential of learning for more Indian students and teachers:
- Powering innovation hubs with GenAI assistants: Together with Atal Tinkering Labs, which serves more than 10,000 Indian schools and 11 million students, we will help incorporate robotics and coding into local curricula, integrate Gemini thoughtfully into teacher workflows, and build a safely guardrailed AI assistant for students grounded in national curriculum standards that can act as an educational partner. Teachers can access real-time tips to help students fix a robot missing a part with readily available materials or mend a broken circuit design by simply pointing a camera to it or asking Gemini in chat.
- Transforming textbooks into interactive digital journeys: In a first-of-its-kind partnership with PM Publishers Pvt. Ltd., a K-12 textbook publisher in India, Gemini will be used to transform two million static textbooks into AI-powered interactive journeys across more than 250 titles and 2,000 schools. Each book features a QR code that can be scanned by students to access a custom Gem (specialized versions of the Gemini AI model), that acts as an expert assistant on the subject, providing summaries and responses on the contents of the respective book.
- Serving India’s linguistic diversity: There is incredible potential for AI to make a positive impact on education when built in close partnership with experts and grounded in local language and culture. Building on Google.org’s recent $2 million founding contribution to establish the new Indic Language Technologies Research Hub at IIT Bombay, we’ll help incorporate India’s linguistic diversity into AI as it advances globally.
These efforts build on the global success of existing AI literacy programs like Experience AI, a joint partnership developed by Google DeepMind with Raspberry Pi Foundation, which has already reached up to 300,000 students and 8,000 teachers in India.
AI solutions for India’s agriculture and energy sectors
Our new partnerships in science and education build on our ongoing collaboration with local Indian organizations to tackle global challenges in agriculture and energy security. Working with Indian startups, institutions like Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and Indian state and central government entities are using the APIs of our freely available Agri AI models to enhance agricultural resilience, crop productivity and farmer incomes. TerraStack is also using Google AI to combine satellite, crop, and weather data, into hyper-local insights that help farmers make better agricultural decisions.
We also recently announced a growing collaboration with Open Climate Fix to integrate our WeatherNext AI models into India’s electricity grid operations. We’re aiming to significantly improve the accuracy of renewable energy forecasts in India, help grid operators manage volatility, and support the country’s ambitious clean energy targets. When we tested the integration of WeatherNext into OCF’s wind generation forecast, results showed up to 8% accuracy improvement in forecast performance.
This partnership comes as India rapidly scales its renewable capacity, becoming the third largest generator of solar energy globally in 2023, with an ambitious target of installing 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. Working together on energy solutions has never been more important - we remain committed to working with experts in India to progress this effort together to prepare for the future.
Preparing for the future together
AI’s global impact is inevitable, but its success is not. To turn potential into prosperity, we are committing to deep, local collaboration with India's government bodies and institutions to ensure AI delivers tangible results across the subcontinent–and the world.
