Modi wants India to power the AI age
MUMBAI
The view from Indian engineer Tushar Shetty’s Mumbai apartment captures a tension playing out around the world as the artificial intelligence boom fuels an unprecedented data-center building spree.
What was once a stretch of lush greenery outside his 21st-floor window is now a scar of red earth where trees were felled to make way for an Amazon facility that forms part of the tech giant’s planned $21 billion investment in AI infrastructure in India by 2030.
“I would not have bought the house if I had known,” said the 46-year-old, lamenting a purchase made just five months ago.
From the suburbs of Virginia to the outskirts of Amsterdam and Dublin, residents have increasingly rebelled against the spread of AI data centers, complaining of noise, surging electricity consumption, water stress and industrialization of residential neighborhoods.
That resistance is gaining ground in India, where Amazon, Google and Microsoft are pouring billions into facilities that advance Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to host “the whole world’s data,” stretching from Maharashtra in the west to Andhra Pradesh in the south.
Unable for now to match the frontier models emerging from the US and China, India is pursuing a different path, betting that dominance in the physical backbone of artificial intelligence may prove just as valuable.
The strategy sits at the heart of Modi’s investment pitch as the world’s back office loses its shine, even as the ambition collides with concerns over scarce resources and communities living alongside the infrastructure powering the digital economy.
