Prime Minister Modi, distinguished leaders, and friends — it’s a privilege to be back in India.
Every time I return, I’m struck by how quickly the country is transforming. And today feels no different.
Years ago, as a student, I would take the Coromandel Express from Chennai to IIT Kharagpur. The train passed through Visakhapatnam — Vizag — a quiet coastal city full of promise.
Today, that same city is becoming home to a full-stack AI hub — part of Google’s $15 billion infrastructure investment in India. When complete, it will host gigawatt-scale computing power and a new international subsea cable gateway. It will create jobs, strengthen connectivity, and expand access to cutting-edge AI for people and businesses across the country.
Sitting on that train years ago, I could never have imagined Vizag becoming a global AI center.
Just as I couldn’t have imagined working with teams exploring how to deploy data centers into space.
Or taking my parents on a fully autonomous ride in San Francisco.
Watching a Waymo car through my 83-year-old father’s eyes gave me a new perspective on technological progress. Of course, he told me he’d be more impressed if it could navigate India’s busiest streets. Fair point, Dad.
These moments reflect something deeper: what becomes possible when humanity dares to dream big.
And today, no technology makes me dream bigger than artificial intelligence.
In This Content
A New Era of Discovery
AI represents the most profound platform shift of our lifetime.
We are standing at the edge of hyperprogress — a period of rapid discovery that could help emerging economies leapfrog legacy barriers and accelerate growth.
But that future is not automatic. It requires bold thinking, responsible development, and global collaboration.
Be Bold
Why bold? Because AI has the power to improve billions of lives and tackle some of the hardest scientific challenges of our time.
For decades, predicting protein structures was considered one of biology’s greatest unsolved puzzles. It slowed drug discovery and limited progress in medicine.
Then Demis Hassabis and his team at Google DeepMind asked a bold question: What if AI could solve it?
That question led to AlphaFold — a breakthrough that compressed decades of research into an open database now used by more than three million researchers across 190 countries. It is helping advance malaria vaccines, combat antibiotic resistance, and unlock new frontiers in science.
Companies like Isomorphic Labs are now pushing further, reimagining drug discovery with AI at the core.
And bold thinking extends beyond the lab.
In El Salvador, AI-powered health tools are bringing affordable diagnostics and treatment to communities that previously had limited access to care.
In India, AI-driven weather forecasting — supported in part by our Neural GCM model — is helping farmers prepare for monsoon variability, protecting livelihoods at scale.
Across Africa, we are working to expand AI research and open-source tools into more than twenty languages — because inclusion must be foundational, not an afterthought.
Boldness means applying AI where it matters most: health, education, agriculture, economic opportunity.
Be Responsible
Innovation without responsibility risks widening inequality.
We cannot allow the digital divide to become an AI divide.
That requires investment in infrastructure and connectivity. In addition to Vizag, we’re expanding capacity in Thailand, Malaysia, and beyond. Through the America-India Connect Initiative, we are building new subsea cable systems to strengthen global digital links.
Responsibility also means preparing for workforce transformation.
AI will reshape industries — automating some tasks, redefining others, and creating entirely new careers. Two decades ago, the idea of a professional content creator didn’t exist. Today, millions earn their livelihoods in ways we could not have predicted.
Preparing people for this shift is essential. We have trained 100 million individuals in digital skills, and our new Google AI Professional Certificate aims to help workers integrate AI into their roles — globally.
And trust must underpin everything.
Tools like SynthID help journalists and fact-checkers verify digital content authenticity, strengthening confidence in what we see and share.
Without trust, progress stalls.
Work Together
Bold innovation and responsible development are only part of the equation.
Collaboration is the multiplier.
Governments play a critical role — not only as regulators setting thoughtful guardrails, but as innovators deploying AI to improve public services.
Around the world, we see promising examples:
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In Uganda, AI and satellite imagery are guiding electrification planning.
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In Memphis, Tennessee, AI is helping identify potholes more efficiently using bus-mounted road scans.
Technology companies must build tools that enhance knowledge, creativity, and productivity — empowering people rather than replacing them.
And businesses of every size must think proactively about how AI can transform operations, unlock innovation, and reskill their workforce.
A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity
We have an opportunity to improve lives at unprecedented scale.
The technology is advancing rapidly. The infrastructure is expanding. The talent is here.
Looking at the leaders and innovators gathered here, I believe we also have the collective will.
The future of AI will not shape itself.
We must shape it — boldly, responsibly, and together.