AI's rising star frames the Indian challenge: lack of talent and hardware

As India looks at unlocking opportunities around generative artificial intelligence (AI) with plans of setting up computing clusters domestically, the country and its start-ups face two key challenges: the lack of "hardware accelerators" — hardware that specifically handles AI requirements — and a shortage of talent. That's Aravind Srinivas, founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, an IIT Madras graduate who's making waves in Silicon Valley pitted in a David vs. Goliath slugfest against titans Microsoft and Google. Speaking to The Indian Express from his home in San Francisco, Srinivas says he's positioning Perplexity as a "conversational answer engine" to differentiate…