KEO AI computer: 8 key things you should know about Karnataka govt's affordable PC for students

In the last of couple of months, Perplexity and Google have announced collaboration with Airtel and Reliance Jio with domestic firms such as Airtel and Reliance Jio to offer free access to generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) services to smartphone users.

Even OpenAI recently launched free one-year access to ChatGPT Go for users in India. However, they are still not accessible to the economically weaker section of students, who can't afford expensive laptops or smartphones of their own.

"Fewer than 15 per cent of households in Karnataka own a personal computer. Over 60 per cent of students struggled to access online learning due to a lack of devices, and only about 45 per cent of schools have computers," said Priyank Kharge, Minister for Electronics, IT/BT and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Karnataka.

To aid such an underprivileged section of society, the Karnataka government has announced KEO (full form: Knowledge-driven, Economical, Open-source), an indigenous AI-native computer.

KEO: Here are the key aspects of the new AI computer

-- As you can see from the cover photo, the KEO PC comes in a very compact form factor. If you look from far, you would likely confuse it a power bank.

-- It is jointly developed by Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation (KEONICS) in collaboration with

-- It is powered by an open-source RISC-V (Reduced Instruction Set Computer-V) processor and runs Ubuntu Linux Operating System

-- It comes with 8GB RAM and 32GB storage, with an option for expansion via an external portable storage device

-- It comes pre-loaded with BUDDH, an AI bot trained on the Karnataka Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) syllabus to assist students (from Class 1 to 10).

-- The on-device BUDDH AI bot can even work when the computer is not connected to the internet. This will come in handy for students in North Karnataka, which faces slow and unreliable internet connectivity.

-- The device also supports 4G SIM, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB-A, HDMI, audio jack support and USB-C ports

-- KEO PC costs Rs 18,999. The package includes just the computer processor unit. Students have to separately purchase the display, keyboard and the mouse.

Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda, chairman, KEONICS, has revealed that the government plans to initially sell 500 devices to students.

Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan each have reportedly ordered 500 KEO PCs, which will be distributed to government school children as part of their CSR initiative.

The Karnataka government plans to assemble them domestically in Karnataka cities, including Mysuru.

Many hope that KEO PC don't face the fate of Android-based low-cost Aakash tablets launched by the central government in 2011. But the tablet maker DataWind was able to ship around 25,000 units out of 100,000 ordered. Eventually, it was scrapped in four years.

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