IBM expands AI and quantum research partnerships with IIT Bombay and IISc

[Mike]

IBM has expanded two long running research partnerships in India, with IIT Bombay and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. The Quantum Insider has the details. The IIT Bombay collaboration dates back to 2018 and the IISc one to 2021, so these are established relationships rather than new deals. The expanded work covers AI, agentic systems and quantum computing. Both institutions are among India's most respected

At IIT Bombay, the focus is mainly AI. That includes sovereign and Indic language models, building multilingual AI that works well across Indian languages, along with multimodal systems for software engineering education and human AI collaboration. There is also work on AI infrastructure and faster knowledge retrieval for businesses. Language support is a big deal in a country with so many major languages

IISc's side includes agentic AI workflows for managing hybrid cloud systems and lightweight time series foundation models based on IBM's Granite, aimed at energy forecasting and spotting anomalies. The quantum strand looks at combining quantum computers with supercomputers, what IBM calls quantum centric supercomputing. That is the hybrid approach most of the industry now talks about. It fits nicely with India's National Quantum Mission. India has committed serious money to quantum in recent years

IBM Research India director Amith Singhee said the next wave of computing will be shaped by advances in agentic AI, sovereign AI and quantum computing. Professor Ganesh Ramakrishnan of IIT Bombay said the aim is trustworthy, inclusive and scalable AI technologies. Professor Yogesh Simmhan of IISc said the future of computing will be shaped by the convergence of hybrid cloud, AI agents and quantum technologies

India has huge engineering talent, and these partnerships give IBM access to it while helping India build its own capabilities. Sovereign AI keeps coming up as countries want models that understand their own languages and culture. Do you think India will become a major quantum player? And does sovereign AI make sense, or is it better to rely on the big global models?

IBM Expands AI and Quantum Research With IIT Bombay and IIScthequantuminsider.com

[MemoryWizard]

Indic language models are important. Most big AI models are far better in English than in Hindi, Tamil or Bengali. Hundreds of millions of people deserve AI that works properly in their own languages

[Arthur81]

IBM has been smart about university partnerships for years. It gets talent and research while the universities get access to hardware

IBM's quantum network already includes plenty of universities worldwide. India is a natural addition. Bengaluru is a huge tech hub too

[RomanReigns]

Quantum centric supercomputing is IBM's favourite phrase at the moment. Underneath the branding, it just means quantum and classical working together, which is where everyone is heading. Marketing teams love a catchy phrase

[WorldClassWill71]

Sovereign AI makes sense for big countries. Relying entirely on American or Chinese models is a strategic risk. India has the talent to build its own. Smaller countries may have to share or rent instead

[QuoteMiner22]

India will be a major quantum player eventually. The National Quantum Mission has decent funding, and the engineering base is enormous. Hardware is the harder part, but software and algorithms are a natural strength

[Natalie91]

Energy forecasting with Granite models is a practical use. India's grid is growing fast with lots of solar. Better forecasting helps keep it stable

Same idea as the SQC forecasting story, just with classical models. Forecasting is clearly a hot area