IBM, Gujarat govt sign MoU to establish 'AI Cluster' in GIFT City

New Delhi, June 29 (IANS) IT major IBM and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat, on Saturday, entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish and promote an artificial intelligence (AI) Cluster leveraging IBM’s Watsonx to foster innovation and collaboration among financial institutions in Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City.

As part of this collaboration, financial institutions will gain access to AI Sandbox, assistance in providing proof of concept, AI Literacy programmes and Digital Assistant Solutions.

"This MoU with IBM will help Gujarat to lead the country in efforts to adopt AI and drive digital transformation," said Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel.

As part of this partnership, IBM will provide software technologies and platforms over a cloud environment enabling financial institutions to customise and fine-tune large language AI models in a sandbox environment.

"This collaboration is a significant step in our continued association with the Government of Gujarat to accelerate the digital transformation of the state," Sandip Patel, MD, IBM India & South Asia, said.

"By establishing this AI cluster, our aim is to make the latest AI solutions easily accessible to the vibrant and growing number of financial institutions in GIFT City," he added.

The IT major will also aim to build a digital assistant-based solution that facilitates the onboarding and integration of these customised large language models for financial institutions.

Aligned with IBM’s commitment to skill 30 million people by 2030 and train 2 million learners in AI by the end of 2026, the company said it will develop an AI curriculum for schools and universities across Gujarat.