Google to set up India-US undersea cable for AI

New Delhi: Tech giant Google on Wednesday said it will develop strategic fibre-optic routes between the United States, India and multiple locations across the Southern Hemisphere to bolster networks for artificial intelligence (AI).

The company plans to strengthen the AI infrastructure through a new initiative called the “America-India Connect”.

“Last year, we announced a $15 billion AI hub in Vizag. This hub will house Gigawatt scale computers and a new international subsea cable gateway. When finished, it will bring jobs and the benefits of cutting edge AI to people and businesses across India,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at an event here.

Pichai is in New Delhi to participate in India AI Impact Summit, which will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. Expo and related events kicked off on February 16.

As part of the America-India Connect initiative, Google plans to establish a new international subsea gateway in Visakhapatnam (Vizag); three new subsea paths connecting India to Singapore, South Africa, and Australia; and four strategic fibre-optic routes that bolster network resilience and capacity between the United States, India and multiple locations across south of the equator.

The company plans to develop a direct fibre-optic path between Vizag and Chennai on India’s east coast to South Africa. When combined with the Equiano and Nuvem subsea cable systems, this will create a redundant high-capacity route that connects the American east coast around Africa to Vizag.

“Additionally, we are delivering a direct path between Vizag and Singapore. When combined with the Bosun and Tabua subsea cable systems, this will create a South Pacific route that connects the American west coast through Australia to Vizag,” Google said in a blog post.

These investments will establish Vizag as a major international subsea gateway, adding vital diversity from existing landings in Mumbai and Chennai. For a nation of more than one billion people, this will increase the resilience of India’s digital backbone and improve economic security, it said.

Meanwhile, Pichai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit.

“It was a delight to meet Mr Sundar Pichai on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. Talked about the work India is doing in AI and how Google can work with our talented students and professionals in this field,” Modi said in a post on X.

In October last year, Google announced plans to invest $15 billion over the next five years to set up a major artificial intelligence data centre at Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. This is one of the largest investments in IT infrastructure in India.

Pichai also announced a $30 million grant to support AI research in India. The company plans to run AI for Science Impact Challenge to support work in areas including quantum computing and climate modelling. The programme will be implemented through Google.org.

Google also announced collaboration with the Indian government’s initiative ‘Karma Yogi Bharat’ to train two crore public servants across 800 districts in 18 languages. Generative AI support will be extended to over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs, reaching 1.1 crore students, Google said.