New Delhi: Google-parent Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and said that he is inspired to see the rapid pace of technological change under PM Modi’s leadership.
Taking to Twitter, Pichai said, “Thank you for a great meeting today PM Narendra Modi. Inspiring to see the rapid pace of technological change under your leadership. Look forward to continuing our strong partnership and supporting India’s G20 presidency to advance an open, connected internet that works for all..”
Prime Minister Modi said that it was a delight to meet Pichai and discuss innovation, technology and more. “It is important the world continues to work together to leverage tech for human prosperity and sustainable development,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Google CEO also called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The President described Pichai as a symbol of talent and wisdom.
Speaking at a Google for India event, Pichai said India will be a big export economy and will benefit from an open and connected internet. He also stated that the technology giant is focusing on startups from India and out of its $300 million for startups, around one-fourth will be invested in entities that are led by women.
He said the sophistication of the Indian startup ecosystem is measurably enhancing and Indian startups like Glance are getting noticed worldwide.
At the eighth edition of Google for India event, Pichai also announced that soon Google is working on AI-based solutions, initiatives which will further scale-up Google’s connection with India and fuel India’s economy. “We are increasingly using AI to scale up the number of languages. We recently added nine new Indian languages, like Assamese, Bhojpuri, Konkani etc. We are working on one powerful AI model where we can get information through thousands of languages,” he said.
Google CEO further praised the established UPI payment system in India and said, “We built Google Pay on UPI’s stack and now we are bringing it to other countries around the world.” Taking up the question on India’s tech regulation, Pichai further said that tech needs regulation and it is important in order to safeguard the privacy of citizens. However, under the legal framework, tech companies will certainly grow and innovate. “It is important to have an innovative framework so that companies can innovate on top of certainty within the legal framework,” he added.
Speaking at the Google India event, Pichai said that there’s so much opportunity still ahead. “Glad to be able to see it up close, and I’m already looking forward to my next visit,” the Google chief said.
