G42 and Cerebras to deploy 8 exaflops of compute in India

Abu Dhabi-based G42 has partnered with U.S.-based chipmaker Cerebras to deploy 8 exaflops of computing power in India. An exaflop is a measure of computing performance. The system will follow local data residency—the requirement for data to be stored within a specific country—as well as security and compliance rules. The project aims to provide computing resources for artificial intelligence applications to educational institutions, government entities, and small and medium enterprises.

Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and India’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) are also partners in the project. The initiative focuses on sovereign AI, which refers to AI infrastructure controlled by a nation. Manu Jain, CEO of G42 India, stated: “Sovereign AI infrastructure is becoming essential for national competitiveness. This project brings that capability to India at a national scale, enabling local researchers, innovators, and enterprises to become AI-native while maintaining full data sovereignty and security.”

According to Andy Hock, chief strategy officer at Cerebras, deploying this system in India marks a significant step forward in the country’s computational capacity and sovereign AI initiatives. Hock noted that it will accelerate training and inference for large-scale models, enabling researchers and developers to build AI tailored to India’s needs. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, where India’s technology minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, stated that the country plans to attract over $200 billion in infrastructure investment over the next two years by rolling out a mix of tax incentives, state-backed venture capital, and policy support.

Several major domestic and international players have pledged significant capital to expand the country’s computational capacity:

• Adani: The conglomerate pledged $100 billion to build up to 5 gigawatts of data center capacity in India by 2035.
• Reliance: The company will invest $110 billion over the next seven years for gigawatt-scale data centers.
• OpenAI and Tata Group: OpenAI has teamed up with Tata Group to secure 100 megawatts of AI compute and will eventually scale it to 1 gigawatts.
• U.S. Tech Giants: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have committed about $70 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in India.

Why it matters

Sovereign AI infrastructure is becoming essential for national competitiveness, and this project brings that capability to India at a national scale.