Karnataka ties up with France and Poland on startup and innovation at AI Summit

Karnataka's IT/BT department signed two letters of intent with partners in France and Poland to boost startup and innovation ties at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, the department said in a statement.

One was with VivaTech, Europe's leading startup and innovation event, to establish a Europe–India startup and innovation corridor led by the Bengaluru Tech Summit, state's annual tech conference.

The agreement covers collaboration in artificial intelligence, deeptech, gaming and immersive technologies, and is expected to deepen technology ties between Bengaluru and France, it added.


"This is a progressive step for both our ecosystems. I have seen VivaTech firsthand, the scale of disruption and innovation there is truly remarkable. It is a powerful platform for our startups to gain access to the French and wider European markets," IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge said in the statement.

The department also tied up with Poland's Katowice chamber of commerce, along with Polish real estate firm Kato.hub sp. z o.o., to drive startup and innovation exchange, the statement said.

The pact builds on initial discussions held at the Bengaluru Tech Summit last November and formalises structured cooperation across innovation-led sectors, it added.

According to the statement, both agreements call for a joint task force to identify pilot projects and develop an implementation roadmap, with a focus on expanding market access, investor connections and enterprise partnerships for Karnataka's startup ecosystem. Priority areas include AI, climatetech, deeptech, gaming and semiconductors.

"Karnataka remains committed to building strong, outcome-oriented global partnerships in emerging technologies," Manjula N, secretary of the IT/BT department, said.

On the sidelines of the summit, Kharge also met Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, to discuss deepening the AI company's collaboration with the state across artificial intelligence and next-generation technologies.