Indians Dominate TIME 100 AI Titans List

The TIME 100 AI list is an interesting assortment of titans.
Indians make up about 20 per cent of the coveted list, which is pretty commendable, notes Sandeep Goyal.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Ninety-one members of the TIME 100 AI 2024 list were not on last year's list, an indication of just how quickly the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing.

Just two months after TIME launched last year's list, all of us witnessed one of the most dramatic recent events in the business world, a moment that drew the world's attention to the individuals leading AI.

In November 2023, OpenAI's board shocked the industry by firing CEO Sam Altman amid questions about his integrity.

After his subsequent return to the company, Mr Altman was recognised as TIME's 2023 CEO of the Year.

The 2024 list features leaders, innovators, thinkers, and shapers who make up the chosen 100. Interestingly, there are a large number of Indians and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) on the list.

The top of the Leaders segment has Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google & Alphabet, and Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft -- both of whom need no introduction.

Joining them among the Leaders is Rohit Prasad of Amazon, formerly the team leader for Alexa and now the head scientist for Artificial General Intelligence at the tech retailer.

The Innovators list includes Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity; Shiv Rao, CEO of Abridge; Anant Vijay Singh, product lead at Proton; and Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, who is of Pakistani origin, not Indian.

The Thinkers list has Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute. Under her leadership, the AINow Institute is emerging as one of the leading critics of the industry.

She has been known to say that understanding technology policy isn't about studying the ins-and-outs of neural networks: 'It's about understanding power.'

In 2023, the institute released a seminal 103-page-report discussing how AI is concentrating power within the tech industry.

Since then, Ms Kak has advocated producing a US Food and Drug Administration-style body to regulate new AI models, interrogated the impact of the data-centres used to power AI on climate change, and released policy frameworks for governments on how to tackle the social risks of AI. All commendable stuff.

Also in the TIME Thinkers count is Dwarkesh Patel, a 23-year-old Bay Area resident, who has built one of the most deeply researched podcasts on AI.

Mr Patel has quickly become known for his thorough and technical explorations of the subject, becoming vital listening for those working on the technology -- including Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.

The Shapers list is headed by Amandeep Singh Gill, the United Nation secretary general's envoy on technology.

The ex-IFS officer, who studied in Chandigarh, has written extensively about the impact of AI on modern life and the necessity for establishing appropriate regulatory frameworks to ensure AI plays a positive role in the future.

He has also spoken at global forums about the potential impact of AI on the Global South and India's role in shaping how AI could develop within the bloc.

Arati Prabhakar, director, US office of science and technology Policy; Divya Siddharth, co-founder, Collective Intelligence Project, and Vinod Khosla, founder Khosla Ventures, are all in the Shapers list with Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Union minister for electronics & information technology, Nandan Nilekani, and Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor -- who won a landmark victory at the Delhi high court recently over unauthorised AI use of his likeness.

He had sought protection over the use of his iconic phrase, 'jhakaas', or 'awesome', in Hindi -- first uttered in the 1985 Hindi film, Yudh.

The court ruled in his favour by restraining 16 defendants from using, in any manner, 'Anil Kapoor's name, likeness, image, voice or any other aspect of his persona to create any merchandise, ringtones ... either for monetary gain or otherwise.'

The TIME 100 AI list is an interesting assortment of titans. Indians make up about 20 per cent of the coveted list, which is pretty commendable.

The moot question, however, is whether all these august personalities are really helping shape the contours of AI in India in any which way.

Most of those on the list are far removed from their country of origin, with the exception of Minister Vaishnaw.

The Indian government has also allocated over $1.2 billion to support its nascent AI sector.

Most of the country's AI efforts have been funnelled through its 'IndiaAI' initiative, managed by Mr Vaishnaw's ministry.

The ministry aims to secure over 10,000 graphic processing units, the chips that power most AI technology, to increase the country's computing capacity; provide finance for local startups; increase access to high-quality datasets; expand access to AI educational opportunities for Indians; and develop its own state-of-the-art AI models. One hopes he succeeds.

Sandeep Goyal is chairman of Rediffusion.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com