US startup sets eyes on real-world AI applications in India

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become popular because of tools such as ChatGPT that can converse in human-like language, but deployment should now extend to real use cases like traffic management, faster healthcare analysis and agriculture productivity, said Dinakar Munagala, cofounder of Blaize.

The California-based, Nasdaq-listed startup, which develops programmable AI processors and software for devices and data centres, does a significant portion of its research and development in Telangana. Half of its nearly 300 employees are based in India.

"AI came to the world in the form of ChatGPT, that's the big thing everybody knows. But you derive the real practical value of AI when you deploy it in a real use case," Munagala told ET in an interview, after announcing plans to scale up Blaize’s Telangana operations during the World Economic Forum in Davos last month. "We realise its (AI’s) value when real fields use it for better public safety, better agriculture productivity, or better healthcare."


Founded in 2011 by Munagala, Satyaki Koneru, and Ke Yin, Blaize is backed by Singapore investment company Temasek. It has raised more than $330 million from strategic investors including Mercedes-Benz and Samsung.

According to the company, its focus is on energy-efficient and cost-efficient chips and software platforms. It currently runs projects in Asia, the Middle East and North and South America, in areas such as public safety, defence and smart traffic, said Munagala, also its chief executive.

India has the potential to serve multiple sectors including agriculture using AI, he said. “A majority of India’s GDP comes from agriculture, yet productivity remains lower. It (using AI in agriculture) is already being done in western countries. There's no reason why it can't be done in India.”

The company had set up operations in Hyderabad more than 10 years ago. In India, it partners with Yotta, providing software services for the Hiranandani Group company’s data centres.

Telangana MoU

Blaize and the Telangana government signed a memorandum of understanding at the World Economic Forum in Davos to work on the state’s AI and semiconductor ecosystem.

This comes amid the state government rolling out Aikam, an autonomous body to promote AI innovation. The programme is aimed at talent upskilling and accelerating developing AI-first startups.

“Today the world of AI is all sitting in pilots and foundational models which are commodified, but the real-world application of AI that delivers true impact is lacking,” said Phani Nagarjuna, founding chief executive of the Telangana AI innovation hub. The state is among the first in India that built a data platform that has data on healthcare, he said.

Mungala said the country can improve sharing its data for training models. “I do anticipate all the states collectively working together sharing data within the country,” said Munagala.

He believes physical AI models could reduce traffic by nearly 10-15% in cities like Bengaluru, if used on cameras in every intersection to detect traffic and make it smoother.