Tamil Nadu signs MoU with Google to set up AI lab in Chennai

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday signed a pact with tech major Google in the US to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Chennai.

An MoU was signed between Google and Tamil Nadu government in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin at Google headquarters on Saturday morning (India time), the second day of his visit to the US to attract investments to Tamil Nadu.

The AI lab would be set up jointly by the tech major and GuidanceTN in Chennai.

During an interaction with the Google executives on the firms’ Mountain View campus, the Chief Minister also discussed the expansion of Pixel-8 smartphone production and commence production of other products and technologies of Google in Tamil Nadu.

A State government statement said Chief Minister Stalin also discussed augmenting growth through AI innovations to support startups, industrial climate and future capacity addition. Stalin informed the top executives of Alphabet, a Fortune 500 company and parent company of Google, that Tamil Nadu was ready to create over two million young workforce armed with modern AI skills using its Naan Mudhalvan programme in partnership with Google.

During his visit to Apple’s campus, Stalin highlighted the various measures taken by the State government to improve the manufacturing climate and showcased Tamil Nadu’s pioneering status in the field of transport and housing, besides skilled workforce, especially women.

The statement quoted the CM as telling Apple executives that he was keen on transforming Tamil Nadu into the manufacturing hub of Asia. He also invited Apple to invest more in the State.

Earlier, Stalin also visited the office of another tech goliath, Microsoft, and discussed data centre expansion, Global Capability Centre and AI skill creation among the opportunities with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and other officials.

In a message posted on his ‘X’ page, Stalin said, “An awe-inspiring visit to the offices of Apple, Google and Microsoft. Discussed various opportunities and exciting partnerships. Determined to strengthen these partnerships and make Tamil Nadu none of the foremost growth engines of Asia.”

State industries minister TRB Rajaa, who is also a part of the official delegation that accompanied the CM, posted on the microblogging site: “On our visit to the Google HQ today, we’ve signed an MoU to set up the Tamil Nadu AI Labs at GuidanceTN in Chennai in partnership with Google! Say hello to what I would like to call ‘Chennai.ai.”