Google commits $8 million to India's AI centres, launches health and language initiatives

Google commits $8 million to India's AI centres, rolls out health, language and developer initiatives

Google on Tuesday announced fresh collaborations and funding commitments worth $8 million to strengthen India's artificial intelligence ecosystem, alongside a series of healthcare, language and developer-focused initiatives, at its "Lab to Impact" dialogue. The funding, routed through Google.org, will support four government-backed AI Centres of Excellence as part of India's push to "Make AI in India and Make AI work for India." The announcement was made at the event attended by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, where Google showcased its research-first approach to scaling AI for public good and digital public infrastructure. Under the $8 million commitment, research funding will go to TANUH at IISc Bengaluru for non-communicable disease treatment, the Airawat Research Foundation at IIT Kanpur for AI-driven urban governance, the AI Centre of Excellence for Education at IIT Madras, and ANNAM.AI at IIT Ropar for agriculture and farmer welfare. Healthcare featured prominently in Google's announcements. The company said it would provide $400,000 to support collaborations using its MedGemma models to build India-specific health foundation models. As part of this effort, Ajna Lens will work with experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to develop AI tools for dermatology and OPD triaging, while researchers from IISc will explore broader clinical applications. Google also said it is working with the National Health Authority to use AI to convert millions of unstructured medical records into the international FHIR standard, a move aimed at improving patient understanding, reducing documentation burdens and enabling better policy decisions. In addition, over 400,000 NHA-registered health facilities will be brought onto Google Maps and Search to make official healthcare information easier to access. To boost inclusive AI, Google announced a $2 million founding contribution to set up an Indic Language Technologies Research Hub at IIT Bombay, in memory of linguistics pioneer Professor Pushpak Bhattacharyya. The hub will focus on ensuring AI systems better reflect India's linguistic diversity. For developers and startups, Google said it would provide $50,000 each to Gnani.AI and CoRover.AI to support Indic-language voice and e-governance solutions, and an additional $50,000 grant to IIT Bombay for building an India-centric health governance database using Gemma models. All 22 Gemma models have also been uploaded to AIKosh, the India AI Mission's open platform. The company also announced separate Google.org funding of $2.5 million for Wadhwani AI's HealthVaani assistant for ASHA and Anganwadi workers, and $2 million to develop Garuda, an AI language model for agriculture. Beyond AI, Google said it is partnering with ReNew Energy on a 150 MW solar project in Rajasthan, extending its push to power AI growth with clean energy and support India's non-fossil fuel goals.

Google unveils scaled AI projects at India AI Impact Summit 2026

Google announced a series of collaborations and funding commitments to enhance India's AI ecosystem at its "Lab to Impact" dialogue, conducted alongside the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The event, attended by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, highlighted Google's research-focused approach to supporting India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and enabling the research, startup, and developer community to address national challenges. Google is providing $400,000 to support projects leveraging MedGemma to develop India's Health Foundation Models. These models are designed to enhance healthcare efficiency and improve patient outcomes across the country. Ajna Lens will collaborate with AIIMS specialists to create models targeting Dermatology and OPD Triaging. These models will feed into India's DPI and be accessible to the broader ecosystem. Researchers, AI experts, and clinicians from IISc will investigate wider clinical applications for AI models. Google is also partnering with the National Health Authority (NHA) to standardize millions of unstructured medical records into the FHIR format, aiming to reduce documentation burden, improve patient understanding, and enable informed policy decisions. Additionally, Google will list over 400,000 NHA-registered health facilities -- including hospitals, clinics, and labs -- on Google Maps and Search to provide accurate, updated location information. Over the last five years, Google has supported nearly 1,000 years of PhD-level research across more than 25 premier Indian institutions. Through the global PhD Fellowship program, 166 Indian students have conducted research ranging from foundational computer vision models to AI tools for mental health. Google.org is allocating $8 million to four AI Centres of Excellence established by the Government of India: Google is also contributing $2 million to the Indic Language Technologies Research Hub at IIT Bombay, established in memory of Professor Pushpak Bhattacharyya, to advance AI for India's linguistic diversity. Indian startups are using Google's Gemma foundational models for Indic language solutions. Gnani.AI and CoRover.AI have received $50,000 each to extend AI access for the Indian diaspora. IIT Bombay received $50,000 to leverage Gemma for processing health governance documents and creating an India-Centric Trait Database, covering diseases, phenotypes, and genetic conditions relevant to the Indian population. All 22 Gemma models are available on AIKosh, the India AI Mission's open platform for data and models, enabling developers to build indigenous AI solutions aligned with India's "Make-in-India" objectives. Google is supporting initiatives that apply AI in public health and agriculture: Using Google's Open Health Stack, Khushi Baby conducted over 35 million TB screenings in Rajasthan, adhering to international standards and India's digital health mission. Research indicates AI-based tools could save roughly ₹390 billion ($4.7 billion) annually and enable 98 million additional rural patient visits. Google is collaborating with ReNew Energy to support a 150 MW solar project in Rajasthan, offsetting AI-related emissions. This builds on previous partnerships with Adani Group and Clean Max, which added 186 MW of renewable power to India's grid, contributing to the country's 2030 goal of 500 GW non-fossil fuel electricity. Google's initiatives aim to expand India's AI ecosystem across healthcare, research, education, agriculture, and language technologies. By funding research, providing open models, and supporting startups and changemakers, these efforts are expected to strengthen India's AI capabilities, improve public health and agricultural outcomes, and promote inclusive, sustainable AI adoption. Speaking at the event, Dr Manish Gupta, Senior Research Director, Google DeepMind stated: AI is humanity's most profound and powerful force for progress, and at Google, we see its global evolution driven by three pivotal shifts - its ability to accelerate scientific discovery, its advances enhancing human capability, and India's unique embrace of AI's potential. From foundational research to ecosystem deployment to scaled impact, our full-stack approach is equipping the country to lead a global AI-powered future, with innovations from India's labs benefiting billions across the world. Minister of Education, Government of India, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan stated: