'I want to work with you': Rajeev Chandrashekhar's offer for Indian AI and semiconductor builders

Rajeev Chandrashekhar, former Union Minister and investor, on Tuesday issued an open call to Indian entrepreneurs in AI, semiconductors, and electronics, offering mentorship and collaboration. “If you are Indian (in India or abroad) and are building or intend to build something significant in deep AI or Semiconductor or Electronics, then I would like to work with/mentor u and help create more Indian success and momentum in these areas 👍🏻💪🏻 - Do reach out to me at rajeev@rajeev.in,” he posted on X.

His offer comes amid growing global discussion on AI dominance, sparked by a major breakthrough from China. A Hangzhou-based startup, DeepSeek, recently introduced an AI model that outperformed several of OpenAI’s leading models, overtook ChatGPT in the iOS app store, and challenged Meta’s presence in the open-source AI space. The achievement was particularly striking given that DeepSeek’s R1 model was reportedly trained for just $6 million — a fraction of the tens of billions invested by OpenAI and Microsoft. This development has fueled speculation about whether India can achieve a similar feat.

India has already laid the groundwork for a strong AI ecosystem. Earlier this month, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the country’s first foundational AI model would be ready within 10 months. The government also plans to host an open-source model on Indian servers, mirroring China’s approach with DeepSeek. Speaking at the India Today-Business Today Budget Roundtable, Vaishnaw said India’s AI mission, backed by a ₹10,000 crore investment, is designed to “democratize access to technology” and computing power.

To bolster AI development, India has procured 18,000 high-end GPUs, with 10,000 already in place. Vaishnaw underscored the importance of compute power, explaining, “Either people who have deep pockets can buy compute power, or we create a structure where the government puts in a mechanism where people put in the compute power, and that is made accessible to everybody.”

The minister also expressed confidence in India’s ability to lead in AI innovation, citing a Stanford study that ranked India among the top four countries for innovation. He highlighted AI’s growing role in solving large-scale challenges, pointing to Indian Railways’ use of AI to boost ticket confirmations by 27%.