‘The DeepSeek moment is a reminder that accepting status quo is a wrong strategy’

As DeepSeek disrupts the global power of AI with a cheaper yet efficient model, it’s a clear sign for the Indian government and large Indian tech services companies to start evaluating a global plan to be a strong contender as an AI partner. As India’s geopolitics leans towards being a US ally, Indian tech giants stand at the precipice of fast changing industry, which is seeing accelerated disruption.

Read more: DeepSeek AI: ‘We have a hedge fund manager releasing a model that beats the big daddies of GenAI on all parameters’

While the US begins building data centres across India, the opportunity created by DeepSeek can emerge as an untapped opportunity for the Indian tech sector. With a growing focus on AI tech, Machine Learning, tech companies can be a preferred partner for infrastructure support, software development. Being a part of a global ecosystem, focused on building AI infra, can also offer collaborative opportunities to Indian tech companies specializing in AI, machine learning (ML), and analytics by collaborating with US-based firms to leverage the enhanced computational capabilities of these data centers. 

Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, says this is the time to bet on this change with a belief in the disruption.

“I strongly believe that India should see AI as a “solution” rather than software,” — Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures

“I strongly believe that India should see AI as a “solution” rather than software. India is jumping on to AI mission with massive Nvidia GPU purchase plans. Indian solution makers are also thinking of AI as building it top of NVIDIA cloud accelerators. The DeepSeek moment is a reminder that accepting status quo is a wrong strategy. All of us will witness significantly power efficient, high performance, solution centric chips in the next few years that will shake the likes of NVIDIA. Anticipation of this disruption will benefit India and its solutions community,” he says.

Narendra Bhandari, General Partner of Seafund, a deeptech focused early-stage venture fund sector, concurs that DeepSeek and some of the other newer models have demonstrated a great opportunity for India.

“Indian startups can aspire to build relevant models at much lower costs,” he says.

He adds that the government should focus on a few areas like funding the capital build out as laid out in the budgets to much higher returns in the new environment and attracting talent (Indian Diaspora) from across the globe to help build out these newer models.

“We believe this is the right time to focus on the India opportunity in building AI models because DeepSeek has shown that innovation can be done at a much lower cost,” — Narendra Bhandari, General Partner of Seafund

“It has been demonstrated that smaller teams can build this quickly,” he explains.

He also adds that the government should balance research funding to include universities, research labs and fund of funds, while focusing on DeepTech investors to drive and manage the innovation pace.

“Govt and investors continue to focus on design capabilities (ex. DLI) and expand funding significantly. Accelerate the adoption of Indian designs by large computing installations. We believe this is the right time to focus on the India opportunity in building AI models because DeepSeek has shown that innovation can be done at a much lower cost,” he says.

The Legal Regulatory View

As per Dinesh Jotwani, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Co-Managing Partner, Jotwani Associates, Deepseek presents both opportunities and threats to the Indian tech space. He says while this is an opportunity for India,

“Indian startups can now create AI models at a fraction of the cost, eliminating the need for millions of dollars of investment in AI platforms and models. This allows them to compete globally, leveraging the cost advantage and utilising new, indigenously developed innovation models,” he said.

However, he also emphasizes that this also calls for the Government of India to take immediate action to regulate, make investments, promote education, collaboration, and protect IPRs in AI models that are much needed for startups to grow globally.

“India should develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for AI that addresses data protection, privacy, and liability issues.” — Dinesh Jotwani, Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Co-Managing Partner, Jotwani Associates

“India should develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for AI that addresses data protection, privacy, and liability issues. This framework should be designed to promote innovation while also protecting consumers and businesses. India should invest in AI research and development to ensure it remains at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field. This investment should focus on developing both cutting-edge AI technologies and affordable AI solutions for businesses and consumers,” he adds.

He also highlights the importance of promoting the adoption of AI in India and collaborating with other countries in this regard.

“India should promote the adoption of AI across various sectors of the economy. This can be done through initiatives such as providing financial incentives for businesses that adopt AI and developing educational programs to train workers in AI skills. India should collaborate with other countries on AI regulation and development. This collaboration can ensure that AI is used for the benefit of all humanity and that there is a level playing field for businesses operating in the global AI market,” he says.

So far, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has periodically released recommendations concerning regulating and promoting AI in India. However, these recommendations remain unimplemented, primarily due to insufficient government investment in research and development.

A strong protection framework, referred to as the “Trade Secret Protection Bill,” is also pending with the Government of India. This framework is necessary to safeguard AI Models. In fact, last year, the Law Commission of India released Report No. 289 on “Trade Secrets and Economic Espionage.”

Read more: Ethical AI: Are organizations responsible enough with AI or is their investment reckless?

“The Law Commission’s involvement stemmed from government discussions highlighting the need for the legislation to protect Trade Secrets and address Economic Espionage. Subsequently, the Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department explored the possibility of enacting separate Economic Espionage and Trade Secret Acts,” explains Jotwani.

China used to have a reputation of a mass producer of tech products at low cost with okay quality. But with DeepSeek, the trust in Chinese tech is likely to shoot up. India can start catching up while partnering to benefit from it.