During his visit to the United States, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the CEOs of prominent tech companies including Apple, Google-parent Alphabet, and Microsoft, as part of his engagements with political and business leaders. The discussions centred around exploring opportunities and addressing challenges associated with investing in India. Prior to this meeting, Modi had also met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier in the week. Following the conclusion of the meeting at the White House, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, expressed his belief that India presents a significant opportunity for the company, reports CNBC.
When asked about Apple's plans for expansion in the country, Cook referred to the recent opening of two retail stores in India.
This marked Modi's first state visit to the United States since assuming office as Prime Minister in 2014. The White House later announced that Google would collaborate with the Indian Institute of Science on the open-sourcing of speech data for artificial intelligence models.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was also present in Washington for the event. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Altman and Modi discussed potential collaborations in the field of artificial intelligence.
Hemant Taneja, CEO of venture capital firm General Catalyst, participated in the roundtable discussion as well. Prior to the meeting, Taneja expressed his intention to find common ground regarding efforts to streamline technology transfer rules between the United States and India. India, now the world's most populous country, has surpassed China in this regard, and strained relations between the US and China have heightened the need for such collaborations.
Micron and Applied Materials, leading semiconductor companies, utilised Modi's visit to announce significant investments in India. Micron plans to establish a facility in Gujarat, Modi's home state, as part of the broader chip industry's effort to diversify its supply chain. Lam Research also disclosed its plans to train 60,000 Indian engineers.
Access to skilled labour and outdated labour laws pose challenges for American businesses seeking to expand their workforce in India. Kenneth Juster, former US Ambassador to India and currently a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledged the regulatory uncertainty and difficulties associated with staffing decisions that US companies have faced in India. However, he remains optimistic, noting that India has pledged to streamline the process for foreign companies to conduct business in the country.