India’s AI push gets a boost through Microsoft–Yotta collaboration

Microsoft and Yotta Data Services have announced a partnership aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) across India. The collaboration will see Microsoft integrate its Azure AI services with Yotta’s Shakti Cloud platform, providing AI capabilities to a broad range of users, including developers, startups, enterprises, and public sector organisations.

The agreement combines Microsoft’s AI models, applications, and development tools with Yotta’s sovereign cloud infrastructure, which is designed to offer high-performance AI computing within India’s borders. This includes low-latency model training and real-time inferencing capabilities across key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, finance, manufacturing, retail, and media.

The partnership also aligns with the goals of the IndiaAI Mission, which has received more than 500 proposals for the development of indigenous AI models as of May 2025. Microsoft and Yotta plan to collaborate with government agencies, academic institutions, and startups to encourage local innovation and support the development of AI models suited to India’s digital public infrastructure.

Microsoft’s Azure AI platform, including tools such as ML Studio, database services, security offerings, and GitHub, will be made available on Yotta’s GPU infrastructure. The two companies say this will enable the deployment of hybrid AI systems that meet the country’s data sovereignty requirements while maintaining performance, scalability, and safety.

Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, said the partnership would support India’s goal of becoming an AI-first nation. “Microsoft is honoured to play its part in helping the country realise its AI ambitions through innovation that reflects India’s unique needs and priorities,” he said.

Yotta customers using the Shakti Cloud will have access to a wide range of foundational and specialised language models (LLMs and SLMs) via the Azure AI Foundry. The platform includes built-in safeguards such as content filters, groundedness detection, and copyright protection to help organisations scale their AI projects responsibly.

Sunil Gupta, Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director at Yotta Data Services, described the collaboration as a “key step forward towards India’s AI self-reliance and digital transformation.” He added that the partnership would make advanced AI capabilities more accessible to Indian businesses of all sizes.

The announcement builds on Microsoft’s earlier commitment to AI development in India. In January 2025, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella revealed a collaboration with IndiaAI, a division of the Digital India Corporation, which included the launch of an AI Centre of Excellence and AI Productivity Labs to support inclusive growth.