Article Posted on : - Feb 02, 2023

WASHINGTON (PTI): General Atomics, a major American energy and defence corporation, has started three significant projects in India in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), drones and semiconductors, a company official has said, a day after the launch of a landmark India-US initiative on critical and emerging technologies.

With Bharat Forge, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has entered into a partnership in the critical field of aerostructure manufacturing and with 114ai, an Indian artificial intelligence (AI) company, to develop the next generation of technologies in artificial intelligence, according to Vivek Lall, chief executive of the General Atomics Global Corporation.

Bharat Forge is one of the leading forging companies in India.

It has entered into a partnership with 3rdiTech, an Indian start-up, in the field of semiconductors, Lall said.

Lall was one of the key private sector players who participated in the various events related to the launch of the India-US initiatives in Critical and Emerging Technologies or iCET held in Washington this week.

“GA-ASI is eagerly looking forward to working with Bharat Forge in the critical field of aerostructure manufacturing. Bharat Forge’s expertise in the field of forging is known globally, and their outstanding contributions in the aerospace sector has inspired us to work together for building the next generation of the world’s most advanced unmanned aerial vehicles,” Lall told PTI.

“General Atomics is pleased to unveil our partnership with 114ai. We are looking forward to increased cooperation on NextGen AI technologies that we have been working on with the team at 114ai for the last few months,” he said.

Their technology, track record and tenacity with customers in the US and UK has stood out, he asserted. "We expect many world-leading products coming out of this partnership. General Atomics is committed to Indian Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s ‘Make in India’ strategy and we’re looking forward to much more
cooperation with Indian companies as we move forward,” he said in response to a question.

Lall said GA-ASI has entered into a strategic partnership with 3rdiTech.

“Semiconductors are going to be the defining technology of this era. The team and capability being developed at 3rdiTech are representative of the new India under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. GA-ASI will work with 3rdiTech, one of the inaugural winners of the Indian Ministry of Defence’s flagship iDEX Programme, to transition this cutting-edge capability onto some of India’s platforms," he said.

"General Atomics is committed to supporting Prime Minister Modi’s vision of an Atmanirbhar India, and partnerships like these are a big step in the right direction,” Lall said.

A task force set up by the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in partnership with the India Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA) with participation from the Government of India Semiconductor Mission to develop a “readiness assessment” to identify near-term industry opportunities and facilitate longer-term strategic development of complementary semiconductor ecosystems, the White House said a day earlier.

“This task force will make recommendations to the Department of Commerce and the India Semiconductor Mission on opportunities and challenges to overcome in order to further strengthen India’s role within the global semiconductor value chain, and will also provide input to the US-India Commercial Dialogue.

"The task force will also identify and facilitate workforce development, R&D including with respect to advanced packaging, and exchange opportunities to benefit both countries,” it said.