Google CEO Sundar Pichai at IIT Kharagpur Expo stall — Amplify initiative grabs spotlight

In a Facebook post, the institute said it was “honoured to welcome our distinguished alumnus, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, to the Amplify arena stall.”

Pichai was received by former Director Prof. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, underscoring the institute’s enduring legacy of leadership and global collaboration.

The Amplify Initiative is led by Dr. Mainack Mondal, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, who serves as Principal Investigator of the joint Google–IIT Kharagpur project. Prof. Chakrabarti is the Co-Principal Investigator, with key research contributions from doctoral scholar Gunjan Balde.

The team was also joined at the Expo by Madhurima Maji, Anchor at Google Bangalore, along with other Google collaborators — reflecting the strengthening partnership between IIT Kharagpur and Google.

What is the Amplify Initiative?

Designed to advance India-centric AI development, the Amplify Initiative focuses on creating expert-driven, small-scale, high-quality datasets tailored to underrepresented and hyperlocal Indian contexts.

Developed in collaboration with Google, the platform enables structured knowledge collection from domain experts across diverse scenarios. These include hyperlocal pedagogical consultations sensitive to language, culture, and examination formats, as well as contextual safety assessments of Indian localities incorporating temporal and region-specific attributes.

By identifying knowledge gaps in how large language models reason about region-specific practices and risks, the initiative aims to strengthen the development of AI systems that are inclusive, culturally grounded, and truly India-ready.

The Expo witnessed strong engagement from industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers, with discussions centred on collaborative data collection to enhance the robustness and cultural relevance of next-generation AI systems.

IIT Kharagpur reiterated its commitment to pioneering impactful research partnerships that promote responsible and globally relevant AI innovation.