Andhra Pradesh IT and Education Minister Nara Lokesh met Google CEO Sundar Pichai in the United States. He reviewed the progress of the upcoming Google AI Data Center in Visakhapatnam. Lokesh also requested Google to set up a drone assembly unit in the state’s proposed Drone City. He expressed happiness as Google planned investments of 15 billion dollars in Visakhapatnam. Senior Google leaders, including Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and Global Networking Vice President Bikash Koley, joined the discussions.
Sundar Pichai said Google was expanding cloud regions across India. He added that Google for Startups Accelerators continued to support Indian startups. Pichai stated that the 15-billion-dollar AI Data Center in Visakhapatnam would become the largest non-US FDI from Google. He also mentioned a new agreement with Foxconn in Chennai. Under this collaboration, Google drone wings will be manufactured in India. He assured Lokesh that Google would study the proposals and make a positive announcement soon.
Lokesh also met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. He requested the setup of an Adobe GCC Center in Andhra Pradesh. During his tour, he met Zoom President Shankaralingam and sought a development center in the state. He urged Intel CTO Shesha Krishnapura to consider an AI Research Center in Amaravati.
Lokesh also held talks with Nvidia’s Enterprise and Cloud Sales leader Raj Mirpuri. He requested the launch of a Smart Factory pilot project in Andhra Pradesh. He encouraged partner companies to explore investment opportunities in the state.
