All three of them have been included in the ‘Shapers’ category, acknowledging their significant contributions to the field.The list was released by Time magazine.
See Everyone on the 2024 TIME100 AI List
Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has been recognized by Time magazine for leading India’s efforts as it tries “to become a major player in the world of AI”.
“Under Vaishnaw’s leadership, the country hopes to become one of the top five countries for semiconductor manufacturing—a key component for modern AI systems—within the next five years. Construction has begun on several factories,” the magazine said.
India also faces several challenges in its quest to become a frontrunner in the field of artificial intelligence, report highlighted. “High import tariffs on electronic components, global competition for talent and resources, and the complexity of rapidly upgrading infrastructure (particularly the extensive power and water supply systems that are required for semiconductor manufacturing), may be further hurdles on India’s path to becoming a leader in the AI space,” magazine said.
Nandan Nilekani
Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys and EkStep, has been recognized by Time magazine for his significant contributions to India’s digital public infrastructure. “Nilekani, the billionaire co-founder of Infosys, has spent fifteen years in and out of government developing digital public infrastructure for the world’s most populous country, earning him nicknames like “India’s Bill Gates,'” Time magazine said.
Nilekani has been recognized by magazine as a leader in implementation of the Aadhaar. “Nilekani led India’s Aadhaar program, the world’s largest biometric identity card program. He promoted the program as a salve to welfare fraud, alongside a means to help improve tax collection, ease bank customer verification, among other benefits,” magazine wrote.
Anil Kapoor
Actor Anil Kapoor has been included in TIME’s AI list, following a crucial legal victory he secured in September 2023. The Delhi high court, in an interim order last year, prohibited 16 entities from misusing the actor’s name, voice, image, or other personal characteristics for commercial purposes without obtaining proper authorization.
The legal action was initiated by the actor in response to the widespread circulation of altered videos and emojis that featured his likeness and the famous catchphrase “jhakaas.” This iconic phrase gained significant popularity after its use in his 1985 movie Yudh.
“Kapoor’s victory has also paved the way for others to seek protection over their personality rights,” magazine wrote.
Others prominent figures in the list
Apart from the three Indians, many other prominent personalities have also been included in the list, such as Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, among others.
What Time 100 AI list is about?
The report titled ‘Time 100/AI: The top 100 people most influential people in Artificial Intelligence’ was published by Time magazine on September 5, “to put leaders like Pichai and Whittaker in dialogue and to open up their views to TIME’s readers”.
The list is divided into four categories — leaders, innovators, shapers, and thinkers. The 2024 list features 91 new members. “They span dozens of companies, regions, and perspectives, including 15-year-old Francesca Mani, who advocates across the U.S. for protections for victims of deepfakes, and 77-year-old Andrew Yao, one of China’s most prominent computer scientists, who called last fall for an international regulatory body for AI,” magazine wrote.
“If the world of AI was dominated by the emergence of startup labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and their competitors in 2023, this year, as critics and champions alike have noted, we’ve seen the outsize influence of a small number of tech giants. This year’s list offers examples of the possibilities for AI when it moves out of the lab and into the world,” magazine said.
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