Ola Electric, one of India's largest electric two-wheeler manufacturers, announced the launch of AI chips. Three chips are expected to be launched in 2026 and another in 2028. These will be the first AI chips to be launched from India and are in demand within the country. India-based data center and server company Yotta has ordered 16,000 Nvidia GPUs due next year, with another 16,000 already delivered last month.
Ola's first three chips are Bodhi 1, Ojas, and Sarv 1. The fourth is Bodhi 2, a successor to India's first AI chip. Bodhi 1 is designed for AI inference and is suited for LLMs and visual models. Ola also claims that Bodhi 1 delivers best-in-class power efficiency, which is one of the biggest challenges facing AI processing today.
Apart from that, there is also the Ojas Edge AI chip, which is designed for specific applications. The company can customize this chip for various applications including automotive, mobile, IoT, etc. Ola will also be deploying this chip in its next-generation electric vehicles to help run systems like charging, ADAS, etc. Of course, with the demand for AI computing being so high, the company has also unveiled Sarv 1, which uses the Arm instruction set built for data centers.
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The company's presentation showed that its prototype chips offer better performance and power efficiency than Nvidia GPUs, though it doesn't say which GPU they're comparing them to — an RTX 4090 or an H200 — only that they're running at 200 watts. Additionally, the company didn't say where these chips are manufactured.
India seems keen to join the global AI race currently dominated by the US and China. As the world's most populous country, India has a huge pool of tech talent that can help advance AI technology. Also, many companies such as Nvidia and ASML are barred from selling cutting-edge technology to China, so they would be happy to open up new markets for their products in India.
