Andhra CM Naidu urges Google to expedite Vizag AI data centre

ANdhra Pradesh chief government minister N Chandrababu Naidu on tues appealed to the software system whale Google to hasten its proposed Artificial Intelligence Data Centre at Visakhapatnam.The chief minister held a meeting with Google Cloud chief executive officer Thomas Kurien on the second day of the World Economic Forum summit at Davos in Switzerland.Google is establishing India’s first gigawatt-scale AI Data Centre and AI Hub in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh, as part of a major $15 billion investment, partnering with AdaniConneX and Airtel. The MoU was signed in October and the state government in December allotted 480 acres of land for the project.“We discussed fast-tracking the project for timely completion, and I reaffirmed the state government’s full support, guided by our commitment to speed of doing business,” Naidu said in a post on X.The chief minister also met Daren Tang, Director General, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to discuss furthering collaboration in Andhra Pradesh. “We discussed setting up a WIPO–Andhra IP Academy in Amaravati to train startups in IP valuation, integrating WIPO Green to support Andhra Pradesh’s renewable energy mission, and utilizing the Global Innovation Index to position Amaravati and Visakhapatnam among the world’s top innovation clusters by 2029,” he said.At another meeting in Davos, Naidu had interaction with IBM chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna and discussed the proposal to set up the Quantum Computing Centre in Amaravati, the establishment of a Quantum Innovation Centre, and training one million youth of Andhra Pradesh in artificial intelligence.The state government also signed an agreement with Bengaluru-based RMZ Group for a US $10 Billion strategic infrastructure partnership, including setting up of 10 million sq. Ft. GCC Park, 1 GW hyperscale data centre cluster, and 1,000-acre industrial and logistics park.Meanwhile, the Telangana official delegation led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy began its investment campaign with a meeting with Alon Stopel, Chairman, Israel Innovation Authority. “Israel firm will partner and support Telangana startup’s in several areas of technology, including AI and Deeptech co-innovation in health-tech, agri-tech, cybersecurity and aerospace,” an official statement said.The chief minister also met Jan Willem-Scheijgrond, Vice President and Global Head, Government & Public Affairs, Royal Phillips, who expressed interest in partnering with the state in the AI space. The Telangana delegation explained Willem-Scheijgrond about the newly launched, dedicated Telangana life sciences policy.