'Avoid North-South Politics’: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu Dismisses Bias In AI Centre Selection

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched three AI centres on Tuesday inviting criticism from former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai accusing the central government of ignoring Bengaluru

Bengaluru:Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu on Thursday broke his silence over the controversy that erupted over the launch of three AI Centres of Excellence by the central government on Tuesday.

Taking to X, Vembu, who was co-chairman of the apex committee on the AI centres, appealed to people to desist from creating a North-South divide following Mohandas Pai's post criticising the central government for allegedly "ignoring" Bengaluru in a major AI initiative.

Know The Controversy

The former Infosys CFO, Pai, slammed the government over the alleged exclusion of Bengaluru, the IT capital of India, from the AI Centre Excellence.

He questioned Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on X in response to a news post about the launch of the three centres.

Pai's reaction triggered a row after Pradhan inaugurated AI centres at IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Ropar, and a joint centre at IIT-Delhi and AIIMS, without including Bengaluru.

"Are we not part of Bharat too? Bengaluru voted for NDA, but all we get is stepmotherly treatment," he wrote.

Vembu Issues Clarification

Vembu, who was heading the selection panel as co-chairman for the AI facilities, posted a detailed clarification of Pai’s criticisms. He claimed that the decision to open AI centres was taken based on a foolproof process rather than regional bias.

"The committee itself had plenty of us from the South...Most of us came from the private sector, and the government did not tell us who we should select," he wrote.

Vembu stated that the selection was done after minutely examining the projects and the quality.

“IISc Bengaluru, IIT Chennai, NIT Calicut, IIT Hyderabad, and IIT Mumbai all presented very strong proposals, but the ones we selected stood out in the end. The committee was unanimous in this decision. We stand by our judgement,” he says.

Vembu also urged the public not to indulge in the politics of the North-South divide.

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