Collaborations In The Drone And Technology Manufacturing Sector

Meetings with Global Technology Companies

State Education and IT Minister Lokesh held meetings in the US with representatives of Google, Intel, Adobe, Nvidia, and Zoom. He explained to them how the state is gearing up the technology infrastructure. He discussed plans pertaining to semiconductor manufacturing and electronic production units.

Proposal for a Google Drone Unit

• He requested Google to establish a drone assembly and testing unit in the State's Drone City project. Accompanied by Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and Google Global Infrastructure Vice-President Vikas Kohli, he called on CEO Sundar Pichai. The progress of the AI data centre project in Visakhapatnam was reviewed. Mr. Lokesh sought support towards expanding the Data Centre server manufacturing ecosystem through M/s Wistron New Web Corporation.
• He thanked Google for agreeing to an investment of $15 billion in Visakhapatnam. According to Pichai, Google has been expanding cloud regions in India, while also supporting the nation's startups through the Google for Startups Accelerator.

Request for an Intel ATMP Unit

• Lokesh invited Intel to consider setting up the ATMP unit in the state. He further offered the Intel–Amaravati AI Research Center in collaboration with either Sri City IIIT or IIT Tirupati.
• In the meeting with the chief technology officer, Intel IT division, Sesha Krishnapura, Lokesh had asked for the implementation of the earlier signed memorandum of understanding. He had asked for Intel-based HPC clusters in health, agriculture, and climate modeling. He had also wanted training programs to produce a skilled workforce. He wanted Intel to integrate its training modules into the engineering and polytechnic programs. He had proposed Intel Skill Labs and specialized training in VLSI design, Semiconductor basics, AI, and robotics.

Proposal for an Adobe Global Capability Center

He asked Adobe to consider setting up a Global Capability Center or Development Center in Visakhapatnam. Lokesh also brought to the notice of the Chief Executive Officer, Shantanu Narayen, the linking up companies like Intel, AMD, and Applied Materials for support of fabless design and research centers. He also sought assistance in attracting through Pfizer, investments in vaccine manufacturing, biologics and small molecules and further investment in Andhra Pradesh through KKR. Narayen said Adobe would consider the proposals. Zoom Collaboration on Virtual Education and Health Services Lokesh asked Zoom to establish an R&D or engineering centre in either Amaravati or Visakhapatnam. He met with Velchami Shankaralingam, President of Video Communications Product and Engineering, and Aparna, COO of Zoom. He sought cooperation on delivery of virtual classes to rural students, and for technical assistance to upgrade telemedicine and public health services over Zoom. The representatives promised to consider the requests. Nvidia Co-operation on AI Skill Development AI skill development and collaboration in the field of advanced technology was discussed by Lokesh with Nvidia. He met Raj Mirpuri, Vice President of Enterprise and Cloud Sales. He sought training on AI use in public services and advised the development of AI curricula. He suggested a pilot with universities in Andhra Pradesh to provide Quantum simulators. He has also asked for a smart factory pilot using Nvidia Omniverse and Isaac Sim for digital twin and AI-driven industrial optimization. He also sought Nvidia to carve out a portion of its new $850 million India deep tech startup fund for startups and mentoring programs in Andhra Pradesh. To these proposals, Mirpuri said, Nvidia’s senior management would review them