OPINION | AI Is Everywhere. But Why Is Nobody Talking About Infrastructure?

Eve y
week
the
wo ld
celeb ates
a othe
b eakth ough
i
A tificial
I tellige ce.
A
ew
la ge
la guage
model,
a
sma te
AI
assista t,
a
evolutio a y
image
ge e ato
o
a
AI-powe ed
p oduct
domi ates
the
headli es.
The
discussio
i va iably
evolves
a ou d
softwa e,
what
AI
ca
w ite,
a alyse,
diag ose
o
automate.

Afte
36
yea s
of
desig i g
elect o ic
p oducts
a d
buildi g
ma ufactu i g
ecosystems,
I
fi d
myself
aski g
a
diffe e t
questio .

What
does
AI
eed
befo e
it
ca
do
a y
of
those
thi gs?

The
a swe
is
su p isi gly
abse t
f om
most
discussio s.
AI
is
ot
me ely
a
softwa e
evolutio .
It
is
o e
of
the
la gest
i f ast uctu e
evolutio s
i
mode
i dust ial
histo y.

The
Biggest
Misu de sta di g

The
te m
‘AI
i f ast uctu e’
is
ofte
used
as
though
it
desc ibes
a
si gle
ecosystem.
It
does
ot.& bsp;The e
a e
two
e ti ely
diffe e t
i f ast uctu es.& bsp;The
fi st
c eates
A tificial
I tellige ce.& bsp;The
seco d
deploys
A tificial
I tellige ce.

The
fi st
is
measu ed
i
gigawatts,
semico ducto
fabs
a d
hype scale
computi g.& bsp;The
seco d
is
measu ed
i
e gi ee i g
i ovatio ,
embedded
elect o ics,
se so s
a d
i tellige t
p oducts.

U de sta di g
this
disti ctio
cha ges
how
cou t ies
should
i vest,
how
i dust ies
should
i ovate
a d
whe e
compa ies
like
U wi ed
Co ect
fit
i to
the
AI
eco omy.

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I f ast uctu e
Fo
Ge e ati g
AI

T ai i g
f o tie
AI
models
equi es
a
py amid
of
physical
i f ast uctu e.

At
its
base
is
eliable
elect icity.
Mode
AI
data
ce t es
co sume
ext ao di a y
amou ts
of
powe .
Eve y
watt
e te i g
a
se ve
eve tually
becomes
heat,
dema di g
sophisticated
the mal
ma ageme t
usi g
liquid
cooli g,
chille s,
p ecisio
HVAC
systems
a d
wate
i f ast uctu e.

Above
powe
sits
semico ducto
ma ufactu i g.
GPUs,
CPUs,
NPUs,
HBM
memo y,
etwo ki g
ASICs
a d
powe
semico ducto s
depe d
o
silico
wafe s,
lithog aphy,
depositio ,
etchi g,
adva ced
packagi g,
testi g
a d
highly
specialised
mate ials.

Those
devices
a e
the
assembled
o
complex
multi-laye
p i ted
ci cuit
boa ds
th ough
automated
SMT
p oductio
li es
usi g
SPI,
pick-a d-place
systems,
eflow
solde i g,
AOI,
X- ay
i spectio
a d
fu ctio al
testi g.

Fi ally,
thousa ds
of
se ve s
a e
co ected
usi g
optical
etwo ki g
capable
of
movi g
data
betwee
p ocesso s
with
almost
o
late cy.

O ly
afte
this
imme se
e gi ee i g
stack
exists
ca
softwa e
e gi ee s
begi
t ai i g
AI
models.

Whe e
I dia
Sta ds

I dia
has
become
a
global
fo ce
i
softwa e
e gi ee i g
a d
semico ducto
desig ,
but
leadi g-edge
chip
fab icatio ,
adva ced
packagi g,
AI
accele ato s
a d
hype scale
AI
i f ast uctu e
emai
co ce t ated
i
a
ha dful
of
cou t ies.

Ack owledgi g
this
is
ot
pessimism.
It
is
e gi ee i g
ealism.

Semico ducto
ecosystems
ca ot
be
c eated
ove ight.
They
equi e
decades
of
i vestme t,
policy
co ti uity,
academic
collabo atio ,
ma ufactu i g
capability
a d
st ategic
global
pa t e ships.

I f ast uctu e
Fo
Usi g
AI

Fo tu ately,
c eati g
AI
is
o ly
o e
side
of
the
sto y.
Deployi g
AI
ep ese ts
a
equally
impo ta t
oppo tu ity.
I stead
of
t illio -pa amete
t ai i g
cluste s,
deployme t
equi es
embedded
p ocesso s,
se so s,
eliable
co ectivity,
efficie t
powe
elect o ics
a d
obust
ma ufactu i g.

Ac oss
I dia,
AI
is
al eady
t a sfo mi g
fi tech,
healthca e,
logistics,
ag icultu e,
ma ufactu i g
a d
public
i f ast uctu e.
Most
of
these
systems
ely
o
models
c eated
elsewhe e
but
ge e ate
e o mous
value
by
solvi g
local
p oblems.

The
Role
Of
U wi ed
Co ect

This
is
whe e
we
have
co sciously
positio ed
U wi ed
Co ect.& bsp;We
a e
ot
buildi g
fou datio
models.
We
a e
embeddi g
i tellige ce
i to
i f ast uctu e
that
al eady
exists.

Lighti g
is
o e
of
the
la gest
co sume s
of
elect icity
i
comme cial
buildi gs.
T aditio ally,
a
lumi ai e
has
bee
little
mo e
tha
a
co t olled
elect ical
load.
We
believe
it
should
become
a
i tellige t
decisio -maki g
system.

By
combi i g
IoT
co ectivity
with
embedded
AI,
lighti g
ca
u de sta d
occupa cy,
daylight
availability
a d
huma
activity.
FMCW
ada -based
AI
a d
visio -based
AI
e able
lumi ai es
to
make
decisio s
locally
at
the
edge
without
elyi g
o
co sta t
cloud
co ectivity
o
expe sive
computi g
i f ast uctu e.

The
outcome
is
p actical
athe
tha
theo etical:
lowe
e e gy
co sumptio ,
imp oved
occupa t
comfo t
a d
sma te
buildi gs.

I dia’s
Oppo tu ity

I dia
should
pu sue
both
i f ast uctu es,
but
with
diffe e t
timeli es.& bsp;Lo g-te m
atio al
i vestme t
should
focus
o
semico ducto
ma ufactu i g,
adva ced
packagi g,
AI- eady
data
ce t es,
compou d
semico ducto s,
powe
elect o ics
a d
wo ld-class
ma ufactu i g
capability.

Simulta eously,
I dia
compa ies
should
lead
the
wo ld
i
AI-e abled
p oducts,
I dust ial
IoT,
edge
AI,
i tellige t
se so s,
PCB
ma ufactu i g
a d
automated
elect o ics
assembly.
These
a e
a eas
whe e
I dia
al eady
possesses
e gi ee i g
tale t
a d
ma ufactu i g
expe ie ce
capable
of
delive i g
global
competitive ess.

I ovatio
does
ot
happe
o ly
i side
softwa e
compa ies.
It
also
happe s
i side
desig
labo ato ies,
clea
ooms,
SMT
li es,
eliability
labo ato ies
a d
facto ies.& bsp;Histo y
celeb ates
the
applicatio s
that
cha ge
society,
but
a ely
ack owledges
the
i visible
i f ast uctu e
that
made
those
applicatio s
possible.

If
I dia
wa ts
to
become
mo e
tha
a
co sume
of
A tificial
I tellige ce,
it
must
patie tly
build
the
ecosystem
equi ed
to
ge e ate
AI
while
agg essively
leadi g
the
wo ld
i
deployi g
AI
i to
p oducts
that
imp ove
eve yday
life.

The
futu e
of
AI
will
ot
belo g
o ly
to
the
cou t ies
that
w ite
the
sma test
algo ithms.
It
will
belo g
to
those
that
maste
the
complete
e gi ee i g
ecosystem,
f om
elect icity
a d
semico ducto s
to
ma ufactu i g
a d
i tellige t
p oducts.

That
is
the
co ve satio
I dia
should
be
havi g.

(The
autho
is
the
Co-Fou de
a d
CTO
of
U wi ed
Co ect)

Disclaime :
The
opi io s,
beliefs,
a d
views
exp essed
by
the
va ious
autho s
a d
fo um
pa ticipa ts
o
this
website
a e
pe so al
a d
do
ot
eflect
the
opi io s,
beliefs,
a d
views
of
ABP
Netwo k
Pvt.
Ltd.

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